Pockets Full of Stones
by Takada Saiko
Summary: As the day approaches that will decide the fate between Asgard and Jotunheim, Odin asks the impossible of Loki. Post-Thor/Avengers, part of the ongoing series R
1. Part One

A/N: Fair warning - this may be a bit more Loki-centered vs Loki&Thor-centered. It doesn't mean that there won't be ample amounts of brotherly fluff, because... well, it's me. There's just no getting around it. Anyway, I probably should start this one right now but I really want to. So yeah... Ahem. Surprise! Super fast turnaround! End of one story and the beginning of another.

**Warning: this does pull from the series that I've been writing with Gabrielle Day. If you have not read it, certain characters and events may seem strange. You have been warned.**

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**Pockets Full of Stones**

_Lay me down_

_Let the only sound_

_Be the overflow_

_'Cause they took your loved ones_  
_But returned them in exchange for you_  
_But would you have it any other way?_  
_Would you have it any other way?_  
_You couldn't have it any other way_

_~ What the Water Gave me, Florence + the Machines_

If this were his calling, he wasn't sure he was as fond of it as he ought to be. He was good at it, no one questioned that. His quick wit and sharp mind were made for the circle of politics, certainly much more than his royal brother who preferred to assume everyone honest, but he found little entertainment in the restraint. This meeting and that meeting as a formal representation of a certain blond prince he was currently rethinking his loyalties to. The only upside he could find was that it gave him ample opportunities to publicly humiliate Aegir, the current Lead Advisor to the King, a past time that he much enjoyed.

"Perhaps the crown prince might grace us with his presence at the council meeting on the peace agreement with the Jotuns that is to be brought before the king in a week's time?"

Loki perked, realizing the question had been aimed at him. Thor had not been to any meetings recently, an excuse being made at every turn and he had been spending more and more time on Midgard as of late. Either the planet was near doom and destruction again or the crowned prince was finding it harder than Loki did to stay focused on the meetings and had found the best way out of them. The younger prince probably wouldn't have blamed him, if he weren't required to be there in his place. "I will speak to him on it," he said at last, risking a glance in the direction the voice had come from. Bram's face was not new to the council chambers, though certainly not as old as Aegir's either. He was a quiet man, so when he did speak Loki felt that he had thought long on what he had to say.

Bram's grey eyes looked out over the crowd of dispersing advisors that had say at the latest meeting. "He has been missed as if late, my prince."

Loki's thin lips twitched downward at the formality. It was an oddity to have a prince sitting on an advisory council, but not unheard of. Though, if the trickster were to place money on it, he would wager it had nothing to do with his royal title that made so many of the advisors wary of him. "My brother has many duties to see to."

Bram smiled very slightly, a certain understanding in his eyes. He had watched both boys grow, change, fight, and make peace once more. "Of course, I merely meant to say that some of equal value are easily overlooked in light of others."

"Some of greater value," the dark haired prince agreed with no humour in his voice. He hadn't realized just how tired he was and his guard was slipping. He allowed a charming smile to settle across his lips and he stood, green eyes watching as many grey-haired men walked from the room. After a few moments of silence, even Bram excused himself, leaving Loki to his own thoughts in the quiet of the room.

He sank back down to the chair he had been sitting in for the last two hours and ran his thin hands through his hair. He wasn't sure what he had expected when he'd finally accepted the position, but he was sure this wasn't it. He felt... worn.

"Perhaps you thought it would be easier."

Loki straightened in his seat, cursing his distraction. Aegir had returned and now stood looking quite pompous a few feet away. He watched the dark haired prince with barely veiled contempt, finally sniffing and speaking again when he was given no response. "Your father wishes to see you."

A small smile stretched slowly across Loki's face. "I do appreciate that you're such a quick and loyal pet to deliver the message."

Aegir looked ready to snap back but seemed to physically bite down on his tongue to stop himself. Apparently it did not work well enough. "Quickly, Prince, as he seems in quite a foul humour. Perhaps he'll do us all a favour and banish you from our realm for one trespass or another. I'm sure you've done something as of late."

The dark haired god was already halfway down the hall and barely heard the last piece, though he knew what was being said. It was the same slight jabs, the same insinuations. Every chance Aegir received he would take, and he'd taken to hedging that dangerous line of saying too much around those that secrets were better kept from. Loki knew better than to address it to his father, because in that Aegir only won. He would appear nothing more than a small child, rushing to daddy to complain about the bully. No, the trickster thought as his boots echoed softly against the marble floor, he had long since learned to handle his own battles.

Frigga stood just outside of the closed, ornate doors, the expression that she wore saying that she had been waiting for some time. She perked at the sound of her younger son's approach, any tension melting into a soft smile. "Loki," she greeted.

"Is this to be a family event?" he asked with an easy smile. They both knew it was a mask, covering the strain and stress that he had been under. Strange that he longed for one of Thor's quests of old now over the endless and incessant drawl of old men.

The queen quirked an eyebrow. "Your brother _is_ in there," she said, motioning towards the door. "I'd thought that he would be done by now."

"Aegir said Father needed to speak with me," Loki ventured, wondering if it really were a family affair.

"We may be waiting some time yet," his mother said with a smile.

As if on cue, Thor's voice boomed from behind the heavy doors, angry and irritated. Neither brother nor mother could tell what the king and his crowned son were fighting over, but the words were well heated.

Loki glanced from the door, to the unmoving guards - he was quite sure after all the ways that he and Thor had tried to illicit some reaction from them in their childhood that they were not much more than statues - to his mother before taking a seat on the floor, legs crossed and looking like it was the most natural thing in all the worlds. "Well, we'll be here for a while," he said with a shrug.

Frigga shook her head with a chuckle of her own, joining him in a flurry of light robes. The spread around her and she leaned against her son with a sigh, head resting against his shoulder. "I am quite convinced at times," she said almost wistfully, "that you and Thor have grown far too quickly. For all of the magic in all of the Nine Realms, a mother still cannot turn back time."

The dark haired prince let out a long breath through his nose, his often silky words sticking somewhere in the back of his throat so that they never made their way to his lips. After a moment he did away with his usual pride and let his head rest against hers.

The doors burst open suddenly, startling both Loki and Frigga, but the guards remained stoic even as the god of thunder in such a fury from his father's throne room that it was usually reserved for the younger prince. He did not seem to notice them in his haste to leave and Loki stood very slowly, offering a hand to his mother. "Well that was... I do believe we can leave Thor's temper well enough in the past," he murmured and Frigga laughed openly.

Odin had not approached the door, but appeared to have recently sunk back down onto his throne, hand against his face in a wary motion.

"I'll leave you to it," Frigga whispered and was gone with the doors closing behind her to leave father and son alone in the room.

Loki briefly wondered as to why she had been there to begin with, but was called from thought as Odin looked up. It was as if the Allfather had forgotten that he'd sent for his youngest, and perhaps he had, but he loosed a deep sigh and attempted to straighten himself.

"If a different time would be better..."

"No," Odin said slowly. "As long as you, too, are not intent on informing me of my old and foolish ways." The aging Asgardian looked as if he had never meant to say it, his good eye glancing towards his second son, but he only received a strained smile for any embarrassment that may have been there.

"I hadn't planned on it today," Loki assured him. He watched his father's movements as he poured wine - always kept in the corner of the throne room, but rarely partook of when Loki was called to it - and offered a glass to the dark haired prince. "You did send for me?" he asked at last, half expecting that Aegir had played what he felt was quite a clever trick on the god of mischief.

"I did," Odin acknowledged. "I should not have kept you waiting."

Loki shot him a look that said that the formalities were more than a little odd. Their relationship was often strained in the best of times, but very rarely had it dipped to the point of speaking to each other as strangers would. As far as he was aware, they were on as good of terms as they ever were.

"You have sat in on the counsel for developing the treaty with the Jotuns."

"That does not sound like a question."

Odin snorted lightly. "Thor was meant to sit in on it. I hear, though not from you, that my eldest has neglected many of his responsibilities in favour of traveling to Midgard as of late."

"I'm sure Thor is needed there."

A tired smile stretched across the Allfather's face. "You have spent so much time covering his trail that you will lie to your father on the matter as well?"

Loki felt a rush of indignation and, somewhat surprisingly, a need to defend his brother. It was true that he had been frustrated that the elder prince had not attended the more important meetings. After all, these were part of the responsibilities that a crowned prince bore, and Loki was no crowned prince. Many times he was surprised that anyone referred to him as prince at all. Even so, Thor had often come to him for the summery of what had happened, asking about the points he needed to know and had kept up very well for his usual tastes in activities. Loki was the one to sit with his books all day, while Thor moved. As frustrating as it was, the dark haired trickster knew that they had fallen into the best routine to get the most accomplished. Explaining that to their father, though, might be a bit more difficult.

"Thor has been... very well informed of every matter," Loki said slowly, as if tasting the words as they were said. He watched the reaction, gauging as only he could.

"By his own wishes?"

"Yes."

"You would not lie to me, would you, Loki?"

A smile perked the god of lies lips and he stretched out his hands, palms upward, in an innocent gesture. "Of course I would, Father, just not about this."

Odin chuckled and took a sip from his goblet. "What are you thoughts on the matter?"

This caught the adopted prince's attention. "Aegir is your most trusted advisor and he is on the counsel. Why not ask him?"

"Because I choose to ask my son instead." The words were said quickly, bordering on harsh and demanding. He was losing patience.

"I think..." Loki sighed heavily. He thought that he hated being on that counsel. He would have taken anything other than this if he had had the choice, but it was too important to allow to slip by with the likes of Aegir leading. The doddling old bastard would sell _him_ off in all likelihood if he was given half the chance. "I think we should tread with care."

Odin nodded, letting the words sink deep and listening to everything that was unspoken as well. "I've received a very unsettling letter," he murmured, pulling it from what appeared to simply be the air.

He handed it to his second son and Loki recognized the broken seal of the House Beyond the Vale. King Hoenir and Prince Lyall's house. Green eyes skimmed the words quickly, noting a script that he had recently become more accustomed to. Lyall wrote to the House of Odin in secret, warning them of whispers that his feared his father would not heed. Peace beckoned to the Nine Realms and the Aesir seemed ready to dive for it at all costs. Lyall worried for their future and asked Odin's advice: were the Jotuns truly trustworthy under the rule of the untested heir of Laufey?

"Leifr," Loki murmured, the name leaving his tongue as something distasteful. He was just older than he and Thor having been a very young boy when the war was waged. He'd been kept by his queen mother, safe and away from the fighting. When Lifa took the throne, it was said, Leifr had been deemed too young. He would have had to change their minds in some way or the other in the few years since. "We know nothing of him, and that within itself is dangerous. Have you responded?"

"I will not go behind Hoenir's back to answer his son's query. We have only recently put aside too much to do that now."

Loki felt a certain discomfort creeping within him, as if he and Odin both knew that whatever the Allfather had called him in for was not something that either wanted, but that the kingdom needed. Odin looked as one that had been worn down by the weight of the Realms, and perhaps he was. Perhaps he simply needed to Sleep.

"Father," Loki said slowly, carefully, "you called me here for a reason."

Odin pulled a deep breath in and let it out through his nose. "If I saw another way..."

"Ask. I'm willing to tell you no."

A small smile perked his lips at the words, also said with a smirk that befit them. "I need someone that can go to Jotunheim undetected and can move through without notice."

"You want me to spy on them?" Loki managed, feeling as if he were already on the icy world. Odin knew how he felt about the place: he'd still laugh as it burned if he had half the chance. He knew nothing but suffering and pain there. It haunted his dreams, as Laufey and Lifa reached up from the grave to take hold and pull him down to Hel. There had been many times that Odin's adopted child had woken to those nightmares in recent years, short of breath and finding himself hoarse from shouting. More than once he'd even drawn his brother by accident, the thunderer bursting into his chambers to find his younger brother huddled in his bed, fear shining in his eyes. He _hated_ the Jotuns and he hated their world even more.

"You said that you were willing to tell me no," Odin murmured, voice somehow both flat and pained.

"How can I?" the trickster whispered. "You've found a use for your stolen relic."

"Loki, that is not-"

"But it is." He was not accusing, merely stating fact.

"I don't ask that you go alone, of course."

"But not Thor?"

"That would be foolish, yes."

"He can't know of this," Loki murmured, closing his eyes and his mind whirling with suddenly laid plans. "It would put everything at risk. It will be assumed that he is heavily involved in the preparations for the truce, and if he's seen as showing such blatant distrust..." He shook his head. When had the thought of going behind his brother's back become so impossible, so repulsive of an idea? He steadied himself carefully, thoughts pulling back to what he needed to make this work and to make... Yes, after all these years to make his father _proud_.

"I would prefer you take someone with you."

"I am fully capable of taking care of myself."

"I do not question that, but this place haunts you, my son. Is there someone beyond your brother that you trust?"

_This place haunts me, yet you send me without delay_, Loki thought bitterly. "Sif," the name left his lips without any real thought.

Odin quirked an eyebrow but did not question it.

"The final revisions of the truce are to be presented in a week's time."

"Leifr will be attending a joint meeting between he, Hoenir, and I at that time to go over it."

"Then this needs to happen now."

"Then you'll do it?"

Odin's words hung in the air as ones that neither wanted answered. Loki thought he might have been fooling himself, but hoped that he was not, when he realized that the strain was not entirely over whatever his father and Thor had fought on, but on the decision to ask his youngest son to do the impossible. It pained Odin to ask this.

"Yes, Father."

The Allfather reached forward, taking hold of his second son and clasping the back of his neck as Thor so often did. "I am sorry to ask this of you."

Loki opened his mouth the say something, but then closed it again. He would not hate him for this. He would prove himself finally and completely. With a deep breath he finally said, "I will see what I can find for you before Leifr steps foot on the Bridge."

He turned to leave, feeling as if his resolve might shatter if he didn't throw himself headlong into the task right away, but Odin's voice stopped him. "Loki, when this is done and over with, no matter what is found... Come home."

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TBC

A/N: So... I like it? Hate it? Want to throw me off the Rainbow Bridge into the abyss? (please don't).


	2. Part Two

A/N: Does anyone know if they are planning to release anything further on Thor2 soon? I'm about to curl up and cry if we don't get another snippet soon...

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**Part Two.**

When they had been very young, he could not recall their exact age, Loki had played a rather terrible trick on his brother. He was sure that he had been retaliating for something, as that was their way - Thor would do something, sometimes unintentional, and Loki would lie in wait until the opportunity for his creative style of revenge presented itself - but it had gone awry, as many of his tricks did. As he stared through the garden and towards the small and strangely deep pond in the center, the memory resurfaced in full.

Thor had tossed him into the pond one time too many, Loki now remembered, and the younger prince had waited days before beginning his plan. He'd asked the blond thunderer out to the garden with some excuse or the other, obviously well played enough to bring him there. Then he'd tried his hand at several spells in one. It seemed on the brink of absurd now, as an adult, that he did not see the utter folly in his actions.

First he had conjured rocks in his brother's pockets, the spell cast as so the weight would only be known once they became wet, and then he made them unmovable. Something or the other drove Thor into the pond, laughing at first if Loki remembered it correctly, but that realization sank in as he bobbed down and didn't come back up. It was good fun for the first thirty seconds or so, but when he did not resurfaced, the trickster had felt panic set in.

Loki was not an excellent swimmer by any means, but with hastily mumbled words he lifted the spell from his brother that had been cast and dove into the pond without a second thought. It was dark, but he could just see Thor's limp figure when he reached him. He tugged and pulled, and finally dragged him to the air above. They broke the surface, the dark haired prince gasping and crying as soon as he realized that Thor did not stir. They made it to the side, but it was several very long moments before blue eyes had fluttered open and Loki felt all the guilt that he thought his little body could bear resting on his shoulders, even as Thor smiled and, coughing up mouthfuls of water, assured him that no true harm had been done.

The trickster wondered if this was how Thor had felt, sinking to the bottom of the pond as he had. There was a crushing weight against him, dragging him and pulling him as he stood at the edge of Frigga's Garden, quietly watching the thunderer from behind. He wanted nothing more than to confide in him, allowing the words to slip past his usual barriers in a way that only Thor's presence allowed.

But he could not, and he would not risk his brother in such a way.

Loki moved silently, climbing the small hill that led to the steps downward on the other side. The elder prince was perched on the bottommost step, chin set into the thick palms of his hands as he leaned with his elbows on his knees. His eyes, blue as the upper layers of the pond before the depths turned them dark, watched the water as if it might reveal the answers he sought. He did not stir until Loki was fully seated beside him.

"It is not wise to be in my company now, brother," Thor murmured, the words sounding familiar even as they left his lips.

Loki offered a small smile, showing that he remembered it as well as Thor. "Who said I was wise?" he chuckled, some of the weight seeming to lift off him with the light banter. He would do this for his family, and if Thor ever found out, surely he would understand. Surely. "What brings you out here?"

Thor gave a shrug of his broad shoulders. "You always seem to be able to think better out here. I thought I'd give it a try."

"And?"

"Not a damn thing yet."

Another short laugh escaped the trickster's lips and he shook his head. "Well, it does take time. Half of it to cool down after a battle such as that."

"You heard?"

"I believe the entire kingdom heard, Thor."

The crowned prince had the decency to redden a bit across his face at the words. "Father told you?"

"You nearly took both Mother and I out on your exit, but no, he did not give details. I shall only ask if you wish to share."

Thor stood abruptly, anger flowing off of him in waves. "He's so stubborn!" he growled, voice rumbling through the small garden.

Loki glanced up at the gathering clouds and thought it best to simply listen, rather than point out the irony of Thor calling _anyone_ stubborn.

"Does he assume me still a child that does not think of the consequences. I know the consequences, but..." He stopped blue eyes flashing as lighting as he thought on the conversation. Thunder rolled above them. "He wishes that I would end my relationship with Jane."

This took the younger prince by some surprise at first. He knew that Odin held reservations about his elder son's attachment to a mortal woman - there were, as must have been pointed out in their conversation, obvious issues that simply could not be left unaddressed for long as she aged and Thor seemed not to with the slowness of it - but Frigga adored her. Even Loki was fond of the mortal girl, much to his own irritation at times. She had proven herself a keen intellect with a kind heart to match his brother's. Above all, though, she had done for Thor what none of the others had been able to do: she had brought about the change that put his temper aside and had brought him fully into manhood.

"Did he say so exactly?" Loki asked after a moment, watching every movement his brother made.

"Yes."

The younger prince sighed. "Perhaps he simply fears for her safety in the changing times-"

"I mean to ask her to marry me."

Well, that certainly would have done it. "Thor, I-"

The thunder god whirled on him, lighting striking above and thunder shaking the ground beneath. "Heed carefully your next words to me, brother."

Loki rolled his eyes and stood, crossing his arms in an irritated stance. "Don't try to intimidate me into silence now. That hasn't worked in years. I would merely state that you might put some thought into what announcing that sort of thing now would do. We are balanced between war and peace with Jotunheim, with a new leader holding their throne. He is untested and we are unsure of his true intentions. This is a _very_ delicate time for us and you wish to ask your people to follow a mortal girl as their future queen." He sighed, hoping that he wouldn't find himself struck to the ground by a stray bolt of lightning. When he was not, he continued. "I am not saying that you should break it. Everyone is fond of Jane - hel, I'm fond of her - but you took an oath, Thor. Your responsibility is to Asgard and patience has never been your strong suit."

Thor seemed to deflate under the words, but appeared to be listing. "What would you suggest I do, brother? You are my advisor."

"A fact you seem to only acknowledge when convenient," Loki said with a smile, attempting to lighten his brother's foul humour. He reached out, a hand on the elder Asgardian's shoulder. "This is larger than either of us, Thor. As the future king, you must show responsibility. _I_ know you've kept up with everything happening, if you are here or not, but _they_ do not and I am not one that they will believe readily. You should make your presence known at the council meetings this week. They will be completing the final truce that will be presented to Father and then, in turn, to the Jotuns. You need to be there, as your name is attached to it."

"You're much better suited for-"

Green eyes flashed and his hand dropped, relinquishing all physical contact. "You asked for my advice, Thor. Why bother if you will trample it?"

"What good will my physical presence do?"

Loki felt his patience waver dangerously and he lifted a hand to his face, massaging the bridge of his nose in a gesture he'd developed many years before. "It shows them you give a damn, Thor," he said tightly.

The blond prince's eyes widened at the words as if he had not thought he needed to be there to prove that. "I love Asgard above all else. Above Midgard."

"Then show them that, Thor." He ran a hand through his hair, feeling it threaten to fall from its place as he did so. "Make the gesture and perhaps Father will see it for what it is meant to be. Let us get past this moment in time and then, perhaps, he will be more willing to hear of your affections for Jane Foster."

"I thought he liked her well enough," Thor murmured sulkily.

"Liking her has nothing to do with it."

"Very well, if you're certain that this will work."

"I'm not certain of anything at the present," his brother answered honestly. "You asked me what you should do and I told you. Do this because it is right for Asgard." When Thor did not answer him Loki took that as his cue to leave. He touched the elder prince's shoulder briefly again, his own small attempt to offer the support that he could, and started up the steps again.

"Loki?"

He paused, turning so that he could see his brother from the corner of his eye.

"Thank you, brother, for your honesty. I did need it."

"I know."

"I wish you would share what troubles you."

The trickster froze, but quickly masked the surprise. He was yet to become accustomed to the keen sense Thor had developed for telling when something was wrong with him. There was no point in lying. "In time."

"You're not..." Thor was up the steps before Loki could register it, a hand on either of his shoulders so that he was forced to look at him. "You're not planning anything rash, are you?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"I know that Jotenheim... well it skews your judgement," Thor said slowly, as if unsure of his words.

Loki offered his most confident smile and lifted a hand to grasp hold of the thunderer's arm. "Do not fret over me, brother. I'm quite in control."

* * *

Truth be told - and Loki Odinson rarely relished in its telling - he did not feel in control. He would tell himself that he was, lest what he did control slip from his fingers, but as he strode through the marble hallways of the palace that he had been raised in, he felt a certain dread settle. Thor and the council meetings had both been dealt with in one conversation with his brother. The thunderer would have no time to search for him, wondering on his whereabouts once he realized just how many council meetings he had just agreed to attend. It would also ease Odin's frustrations towards him as the king felt his eldest son was avoiding his responsibilities for a pair of pretty dark eyes on a world far from their own. Yes, Thor would sit in on the meetings, offer his advice - prove that he had, after all, been kept abreast of everything - and that was that. The problem was, that left Loki with the next step: fulfilling his father's request that he take someone with him.

A small part of Loki thought he might do better by simply slipping off to Jotunheim on his own, but Odin would know when he saw Sif still in the palace. The trickster cursed himself for allowing her name to slip from his lips when asked, but it had been the only one that came to mind. He trusted few, in fact, Thor being the only one he trusted fully. Sif was the closest to a trusted friend that he had, though, as strange as that seemed. She had kept his secret well when she had first discovered it on their last trip to Jotunheim and had been a steadying presence when they'd been thrown to Midgard during the whole Magnir debacle. For all their long history of consistent squabbling - almost as badly as he and Thor - she had become something of a friend to him.

"Well, this is certainly not one of your usual haunts," a voice rang in his ear and Loki turned to see just the goddess he'd been searching for. Sif offered him a smirk and motioned to the training field that they stood just off of as if to make her point. "Are you looking for Thor?"

"You, actually," Loki answered.

"Looking for defence from your brother then? You know you've come the wrong way if that's the case."

"My brother and I are not quarreling at the moment," the dark haired prince assured her, amusement evident in his voice. "Do you have a moment? I have a favour to ask."

"That is ominous. Most of us that have known you for any length know that your favours often turn dangerous."

"This one perhaps more than most," the trickster conceded and followed her out of ear range. His eyes glanced around, making sure that they were alone, but a silencing charm fell over them anyway, sealing their conversation within it. "What we are about to discuss, even if you should choose not to partake, must never be mentioned to anyone, do you understand?"

Sif frowned. "Loki, what is going on?"

He took that as her way of accepting his limitations and continued in a soft voice, feeling the need to keep it quiet even within his spell. "You're aware of the upcoming truce negotiations, yes?"

"Isn't everyone?"

"Hm." He watched her watching him, both trying to gage the other's reaction to the very strange and suddenly cryptic conversation. Thor's friends had always mocked Loki for his methods, feeling that he should have learned to rush at the situation full force as his brother did, but instead he took the _coward's_ way, slinking in and striking from behind. It had rarely been stated in the open, even in their youth, but the understanding was there, and to explain that Odin had asked him to spy was just as admitting to what they had always known. It burned him deeply and he regretted evermore letting her name slip and binding himself to at least asking her to join him.

"Get on with it, Loki. I've never known you to be lost for words."

"Some troubling information has been presented to the Allfather and he has asked me to look into it."

"Your father wishes you to spy on the Jotuns?" She had always been very quick to fill in the blanks that he left, and perhaps that was the reason he found her companionship preferable to the bumbling Warriors Three.

"In short, yes."

The shortness left her voice at these words. "Why are you telling me this?"

"He asked that I take someone with me."

"And why not Thor?"

Loki sighed. "I do hope you do not take offense if I tell you that he would be my first choice, but..." He closed his eyes, stress creeping its way into his shoulders, up his neck, and pounding against his skull with a force he'd prefer not to deal with.

"But this has to be done quietly."

"Quietly, and without the crowned prince being involved or knowledgeable. Technically, he is leading these negotiations. It would be very difficult to explain should we get caught and it is best he knows nothing of it."

"But it's perfectly alright for Odin's second son to be caught there," Sif murmured, tone not quite accusatory.

Loki offered a smile and a shrug. "I do not plan to get caught. Regardless, I am the one Father asked to do this and it'll be done with or without help, but it is his wish that I have someone accompany me. When it comes to a stealth, it really is between you and Hogun, and I must admit I prefer your presence."

"You do know that your silver words stopped working on me about seven centuries ago, don't you?" She sighed, dark eyes studying him. "Are you... okay with going back?"

"That really has nothing to do with it. I will not be a hindrance, Lady Sif, if that's what you mean."

"I know," she murmured thoughtfully.

"I need an answer quickly."

"When do we leave?"

The trickster perked, realizing he'd received his answer. "Immediately. Gather what you need."

Loki watched as she nodded and they agreed on a meeting place near the stables. As she walked away he couldn't help the growing feeling that this was going to be a very bad idea very quickly.

* * *

TBC

A/N: I know there has been quite a bit of talk and reflection in these first two chapters. On to Jotunheim in the next, and so the adventure begins!


	3. Part Three

A/N: I don't usually put up two chapters in one day, so this is not a cue to start looking for it, but I wanted to write an action scene and so here it is. XD

* * *

**Part Three.**

The Lady Sif did not seem happy with the idea of slipping through one of Loki's more covert routes and reminded him of the trouble they had caused in the past. The younger prince of Asgard assured her that he would take every precaution necessary to avoid ripping holes in the fabric of space, but no one was to know of their whereabouts. Perhaps she truly just disliked the nauseating feeling the jump left her with that never seemed to accompany the Bifrost.

They landed hard on Jotunheim, the wind cutting even through their warm clothing. Well, Sif's warm clothes, at any rate. Loki had not bothered to change from the clothing he'd been in all day. The mix of metals and leather that often adorned both princes and other ranking officials in Asgard looked as if it might keep him warm against their land's cooler elements, but should not have stood a chance against the raging snows of Jotunheim. The fact that he appeared completely unconcerned with it reminded her of the secret she had sworn to keep.

"Do we have a plan?" Sif called above the winds as she pulled her hood up and around her face, trying to block the snow.

"I did not realize we'd be coming into this," Loki answered back, green eyes looking over the terrain. "Surely it will pass."

Her eyes grew wide at the thought of trying to move much further in it, and they had just gotten there. She reached to grab hold of Loki's dark cloak that he wore and just missed it as the prince started forward in the raging storm. He either didn't notice how frigid it was or was too focused on getting to whatever they were looking for and leaving to notice.

Sif grit her teeth as she pushed her way out of the snow, following the trickster up a snowy bank. She felt her fingers beginning to freeze in her gloves and pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders. He was silent, though how much she could have heard between the raging winds she wasn't sure. It was not the cold that quieted him, though and she felt something knot deep within her chest. She knew she should not question the Allfather, but something about sending his adopted son back to the place that had given him nothing but pain and scars seemed cruel.

Loki, for what it was worth, was entirely focused, attempting to shut out all else. It wasn't until he stopped to look out over the ravine and then begin back down again that he noticed his companion was moving much slower than her usual speed. He reached a hand to her, pulling her up to the place with him. "It doesn't bother me as it does others. You'll need to tell me if it's too much."

"I can handle anything that you can," the lady warrior snapped.

A thin smile stretched across his lips. "I fear I'm much more suited for this place than you." He perked, eyes shifting to something unseen in the snow. "Well, that was fast."

"What was-?" she began, but never finished as shards of ice flew towards them and Loki pulled her down into the snow to avoid being hit. They rolled, sliding all the way to the bottom of the hill with more speed than either would have liked.

Loki hit the bottom and stopped only when his back slammed into a hidden block of ice, pulling a sharp sound from him upon impact. Another followed when Sif crashed into him half a moment later. They scrambled up, neither bothering with apologies as they dodged another onslaught of ice spears and daggers directed at them from the Frost Giant's higher ground.

"Don't you have your daggers?" Sif growled as the rolled to dodge again, neither having countered the attack yet. Her weaponry was made for much closer combat than this. "Or your magic?"

"I can't leave my daggers behind to be seen and magic will alert them."

"What does it matter if they skewer us?"

"Faith, Lady Sif?" the trickster said and the snow came up around them, providing a fair shield from eyes. "We'll bring them to us."

"Rare for you."

"I'm adaptable."

Just as Loki had predicted, the Giants slid down the hill - though with much more grace than either the prince or warrior - and let out a vicious growl through the snow. As they came in close, green eyes met brown and a brief nod set them out.

Sif's spear extended at either side as she swung it around, catching one of the Jotuns before he saw her coming, down around the knees and then through the throat with the other blade. She'd barely pulled it from him when another one was on her, howling in rage. The sound was cut short as a dagger buried itself deeply in his back and he stumbled forward, landing hard on the icy ground.

"Just two?" Sif asked as Loki appeared from behind a thick cloud of snow.

He shrugged, reaching to pull his dagger. They should not leave evidence of their stay on Jotunheim. The Jotun jerked as the prince's hand grasped the metal to pull it from him, red eyes wide and angry. He lashed out, knocking Loki back and reaching for Sif. He caught hold of her leg, touch freezing straight through her boots and through the leggings beneath. A cry escaped her lips as she felt her skin burn from it.

A short burst of magic knocked him away, sending her to the snow beneath her feet and Loki was suddenly between her and the angry Frost Giant. The towering Jotun gave a low growl at him, the attack having done little more than irritating him. She thought of what Loki had said about his magic alerting someone and couldn't help but question what good their stealth did if they were both dead. Their bodies would be proof enough of their presence.

The Giant reached out and Loki drew him away. The prince looked so small next to him, but his movements were quick, not at all hindered by the cold. He slipped to the left and then to the right, the Jotun grasping for him, anger growing as it failed to catch the quick prince. Finally, Loki stepped wrong and the Jotun's fist slammed hard into his already bruised back, sending him tumbling. He landed hard, finding the Giant nearly on him in what seemed like just the blink of an eye, and one large hand wrapped tightly around his throat, lifting him fully into the air.

What little colour was left in her face from the cold Sif lost as she stared, watching as Loki's pale skin turned a dark blue, the same colour as the hand that was cutting off his airway. Deep markings were etched into his skin and his green eyes were now a bright red. She found herself gaping at him. She'd known, she told herself. She and Thor had talked about what he'd seen in the Jotun palace when his brother had thought him dead, but to see it with her own eyes, to see the young man that she'd known more years that she had not, so very changed and looking so _very_ different from himself...

"You," the Frost Giant growled, obviously knowing Loki because of the change, even if he did not know his face. A cruel grin spread across the scarred face of the Jotun. "Foolish little prince, coming all this way just to die."

Loki was fighting hard, but with no air to pull into his lungs it was a losing battle. He looked over to Sif, find her simply staring at him in horror. She finally snapped from her shock when the Jotun through her friend's brother and the dark hair prince slammed hard into a wall of snow-covered ice, the crack sounding even through the storm. He lay there, limp and face-down in the snow.

Sif was on her feet then, ignoring the burning sensation from where the Giant had grabbed hold of her leg. Her spear was in her hand and she rushed it. The creature was large, but not as dumb as it looked. It moved and took hold of her, the cold burning through her armor. She reacted with a cry and lashed out, catching him with the blade just enough that he let her go. She brought him down with the next blow and ended his life with the one after that. Her hands were shaking from the cold when she'd finished and she nearly fell to her knees, but managed to catch herself when she remembered the prince.

He had not moved since he'd slammed into the wall and Sif feared that he might not be breathing at all. His skin had returned to what she was accustomed to, which she saw as a positive sign, and she let out a sigh of relief when she pulled her glove and felt warm air being pushed from his nose. She pulled the glove back around her fingers in fear of losing one to the elements, and reached forward to him. "Loki?"

Her hand had barely pushed back dark hair when he came back to consciousness in a rush, hand wrapping around her wrist and he had her against the ground before she knew what was happening, all the fury of the battle he had been fighting still in his eyes.

Loki recognized her immediately and pulled back, mumbling apologies as he sat back in the snow, surveying the downed Jotuns. He raised a hand to his head, moaning softly as thin fingers delicately sought out and found the place of impact. They came away with a bit of blood, but after a moment he seemed to decide that it wasn't too bad and turned his attention to Sif. Memories crept in when he saw the way she was staring at him and he felt his face heat, despite the frigid temperatures.

"I'm sorry," she managed, voice sounding loud now that the winds had died down around them.

The prince's mask fell perfectly in place as he stood and offered her a hand up as well. "It's a horrific sight, I'm sure."

"No... It just surprised me. Is that... Well is that what you really look like?"

"Odin cast a spell on me when he brought me back to Asgard as a baby, so I'm told, but..." His eyes wandered across the snow-covered land, thin lips turning downward in disgust. He motioned to his pale skin, dark hair and bright green eyes. "But _this_ is me. _This_ is who I have grown to be and who I am. That... monster's shell is only a terrible reminder of what I shall strive never to become." Green eyes flickered to where she stood and listened. "Or become again, according to some."

"Loki..."

"I'd appreciate it if you'd simply drop it, Sif. Drop it and forget it."

She said nothing as she watched him and she realized, as he manipulated the snow to his bidding and it covered the bodies of the dead Jotuns deeply, she was not sure if his control over the ice and snow stemmed from his magic or from his Jotun heritage.

* * *

TBC

A/N: In case you're new to this particular little series, I was referring back to Breath of Life when Loki and Thor were last on Jotunheim and Loki was told that his brother was dead. It was a fun scene to write, but I'm afraid Loki might not agree. Lots of feels. Anyway, here's your bonus for the day. Hope you enjoyed it! Leave me a review and let me know if you're still liking how it's moving along :)


	4. Part Four

**Part Four.**

It was difficult to tell exactly what time of day it was on Jotunheim as the harsh weather conditions often hid all traces of the sun. Night was on them very suddenly and with no visible warning signs until it simply washed over them like a wave and the temperatures plummeted even lower, if that were possible. It was then that even Loki began to feel it.

Sif was not a complainer. She had not gotten to where she was by complaining, nor would she start now, so when she felt Loki throw his own cloak around her to add a little extra warmth, she couldn't stop the look of surprise. "I don't need-"

"I barely feel it. Just take it," he snapped the first words she'd heard him speak in hours. His lie was poorly covered, though, as she could see the way his jaw was set to keep from letting his teeth chatter against it the cold. Perhaps she truly was weathering it better than most, if she was keeping up with a Frost Giant.

She shook her head, banishing the thought. Regardless of where Loki was born, and regardless of what he may or may not look like when Odin's spell was forcibly ripped from him, he was still of Asgard, raised there and mostly accustomed to the more temperate climate. He was still the man that she knew. "We need shelter."

He pulled a deep breath in, letting it out slowly through his nose. "Up ahead."

Sif squinted, trying to see what he was talking about when he wrapped an arm around her suddenly and pulled her forward. Before she knew it, they were ducking into a small cave and out of the elements. She already felt warmer and sank gratefully to the uneven ground.

It was small, shallow cave with signs of use, though perhaps not within a fortnight. Piles of sticks lay against the far back wall and Loki took hold of them instantly, bringing them close to Sif. She began digging in her bag for a piece of flint and steel she'd brought with her and frowned when she'd all but emptied the contents on the floor of the cave. "I must have lost it earlier."

"Good thing you decided to come with a sorcerer then, hmm?" Loki asked as he knelt down next to the rather pathetic looking stack of sticks. It would have to do.

"I thought you couldn't use fire magic."

"I _shouldn't_ use fire magic," he countered. "There is a difference."

"That's what happened last time we were here." She remembered the younger prince's attack to save the elder. The trickster had known what could happen when he'd loosed that attack and had suffered for it since. Though Loki would never admit it openly to anyone, Sif had listened to Thor's worries over his brother's health since. The crowned prince was certain that the recovery had never been a complete one as he still had strange bouts where his temperature would suddenly rise in an unexplained fever or plummet. It never lasted long, and he did well enough to hide away, but Thor had noticed as he often did in the days following their fall out and and when his brother had come home to him.

Loki purposefully didn't look at her as he spoke a low word and the flame leapt up from the wood. He winced, pulling the glove from the hand that was nearest the new flames and inspecting the small burn marks there. "It rebounds on me, as you well know. This little bit won't hurt in the whole of it." He shifted, looking very uncomfortable all of a sudden, as if he realized that there would be no place for him to retreat to.

Sif snorted at him. "How's the head?"

"Surprisingly better than the back. You're heavier than you look when you come rolling down a hill into someone."

The goddess of war had been peeling her gloves off and threw one at the prince. "You may be royalty, but I'll still hit you."

A hint of a smile perked his lips. "I know."

She rolled her eyes. "What are we looking for here anyway? Did your father give you a starting point... Anything?"

"No, it was more of a feeling, of warnings of others that felt we were moving too quickly towards this." He stopped, eyes fixated on the flames. "I don't trust him."

"Who?"

"Leifr."

"Why?"

"Why should I? He's Laufey's son."

"So are you. I suppose that makes you half-brothers then, hmm?"

"He's no brother of mine," Loki growled out, all the walls that he had let crack around her recently suddenly going back into place. His body tensed and she felt the need to hit him growing.

"I don't mean... Never mind. Sit over there and pout for all I care, but know that it doesn't get us any closer to what you're here for. To getting us home."

"Perhaps you shouldn't have come after all," Loki muttered lowly.

As the night stretched on and the fire burned low, Sif was awoken by the muffled sounds of the second prince of Asgard dreaming. She didn't dare wake him, but from the sounds of it he fought his demons at night with the same ferocity that he'd fought everything when his life depended on it. It was dark and she couldn't see his face as he slept facing away from her, but she could hear him call out for his brother over and over again until he jolted awake. If he knew she were awake, he did not acknowledge it, nor did lie back down after that. As she finally drifted back to sleep she thought again how unfair it had been to send Loki, of all people, to Jotunheim, and even more so to keep his brother from his side if he must go.

* * *

Thor found himself yawning widely for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. He just couldn't help it. Since speaking to his brother on the matter four days before he had made good on his promise to attend the meetings. He hadn't realized that he'd agreed to attend _all_ the meetings, of course, and part of him felt more than a little duped by Loki's talk of duty when the younger prince did not show at all. In fact, when he went looking for him, he couldn't find a soul that had seen him around the palace since Thor had last spoken to him.

"Are we boring you, my prince?" Aegir groused, looking unamused from his chair.

"No, of course not," the thunderer said quickly, hoping he had not missed anything too important.

"Then your opinion on the matter?"

Damn. He didn't understand how Loki did it. How did he sit here, completely still - they glared at you if you fidgeted too much - and still pay attention to each and every word that was said? He was sure he had not been giving his little brother enough credit. Almost as sure as he was that he was going to pummel him into the ground for the first time in years for leaving him to it without proper warning.

"My friends, we have been at this for hours. Perhaps we all need to rest our eyes." The voice belonged to Bram and he had already stood from his place, urging Aegir and the others to follow his example.

Thor watched as the others followed and Aegir, sputtering and irritable, finally stood as well. He directed his bitter words towards the crowned prince. "While it's a breath of fresh air to finally have the prince that is _meant_ to be here at our table, perhaps your younger brother would care to finish what he's started."

Aegir's words were lost when Thor walked out the door without a word, blatantly ignoring him.

"Your Highness?"

The blond stopped, Bram approaching and giving a short bow. "Forgive me, but is your brother well? I haven't seen him miss this many council meetings in a row... well, ever. Not since he took his position, at an rate. I sit in on another couple that he usually attends and he has been absent from them as well."

Thor tilted his head, almost as if sizing the smaller Asgardian up. He was not accustomed to the politicians of his realm, even though they had often moved through the same halls as he all of his years. Bram, as so many of them, was part of a much smaller lot when it came to the usual broadness of Asgardians. He was bright, observant, and Thor had grown instantly fond of him when he'd explained several things that the crowned prince had not understood on the first day. His patience was a welcomed change from the others and he'd never heard a foul word spoken of him from his brother.

"I'm afraid I have not seen Loki," Thor said slowly, certain that his brother's absence was worrying him, but unsure if it should be a cause to spread the rumour.

"Strange," Bram murmured. "I'm sure whatever he is doing is quite important."

"If it's Loki you're to be sure he's involved in some mischief or the other."

Thor spun at the sound of the voice behind him and his face broke into the first grin he'd given in days. He was surprised the muscles remembered which way they were meant to move. "Lyall! I'd heard you were not due in for another day or more!"

The tall prince from Beyond the Vale grinned and returned the embrace he was readily offered. "Things have been in constant motion with the whole ordeal. Father thought it best to be here when the Jotuns arrive."

"That's not for another two days," Thor protested and Lyall gave a shrug, eyes shifting to look at the man behind him. The Asgardian prince motioned between them. "Lyall, this is Bram, one of my father's advisors. He's been quite helpful in making sure I don't look a complete fool sitting in on the council working on the truce."

"Pleasure," Lyall said with a friendly smile, but returned his gaze to Thor. "What, did Loki grow tired to answering your incessant questions?" he asked with a grin. "Pawn you off on some poor, unsuspecting soul? Don't worry, Bram, he'll get it eventually."

Thor took a good natured swing at the other prince. "Har har. I'm sure you and Loki spend much time going over my ill attempts-"

"Actually he's been quite complimentary of you as of late in his letters. I was beginning to worry that he was growing ill." The devilish grin spread again. "Where is your little brother?"

"If you'll excuse me," Bram murmured and Thor nodded.

"He's been missing for days," the blond murmured and they began to walk. "I can't find a single person that should have seen him that has. Mother's upset over it, but she won't tell me if she has any theories at all."

"Anyone else missing?"

Thor stopped, thinking. "Sif," he said at last.

The grin only broadened, if it were possible. "Well, I'd never have seen _that_ coming."

"It's not like that."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"How so?"

Thor stopped, thought, and then shook his head. The only image that seemed to come to his mind was Sif hurling her spear in his brother's direction and Loki laughing at her for something or the other. Strange, how it seemed as if things had not changed at all in some cases. "Because, even if it were possible, something darker is at play. I saw him the day that he turned up missing, in the morning. He came to me over worries that I wasn't sitting in for the council meetings. I think he was setting me up to take his place in them because he knew he wasn't going to be there."

Lyall's playful attitude dampened a bit at these words and his face grew serious. "Where would he go?"

"That's the question I have no answer to, and if Sif is with him... I do not know."

"Have you asked your father?"

Thor frowned at this. He had not spoken to Odin since the screaming match four days prior. Between anger and business, he simply hadn't found the will or the time to do so. "I have not."

"I'd start there," Lyall offered.

"You know something more than you're letting on, don't you?"

"Not a thing, Thor. Not one damn thing."

* * *

"I think we've found all we're going to find," Sif said quietly as they trudged through the snow. It was late afternoon, the best they could tell in a world that's sun was hidden behind a perpetual cloud. "If any more of their scouts go missing, they'll start to notice."

Green eyes shifted over to her, but he did not speak. They had run into no less than five more small patrols the same as they had within moments of arriving. They were bruised, beaten, and exhausted. Her leg ached terribly from her first encounter with them, and she'd added more cuts and bruises to her body than she cared to count. Loki had not slept a wink again since the hour or two he'd tossed and turned the first night, and his nervous demeanor was making Sif uneasy as well.

"I will _not_ return to Father empty handed," Loki murmured at last.

"Perhaps there's nothing _to_ find." Sif stood, crossing the space to stand in front of him. "Loki, you haven't failed him if we don't find anything."

He turned on her, looking fully ready to unleash something that would have an eloquent bite to it, but he did not have the chance as he heard - perhaps sensed more than heard - someone's approach and pulled her down into the dusty snow as he had quickly grown into the habit of doing. She glared at him but did not take the swing at his face that she so desired. She didn't care if he was royalty, she didn't care if Thor came after her himself, it was likely that she would beat Loki in the most embarrassing moment possible for him when they returned home even if it was to simply prove that she could still do it. Needless to say she regretted the decision to accompany him.

There was a very small caravan of Jotuns moving through the snow. They did not look like the scouts that they'd run across in the three days' time that they'd been there, but instead more like a traveling party. Almost civilized. As the two Asgardians squinted against the glare, they saw a young Frost Giant with jewels and armor combined, his eyes red as blood and he spoke in an authoritative voice. A woman, older than he, walked next to him, looking no less the warrior for her age.

"That's Leifr," Loki hissed.

"They're going early. Surely they don't expect to be able to control the Bifrost or command Heimdall to bring them over days in advance."

They fell silent instantly, ducking deeper into their hole as the Jotun king seemed to glance in their direction. If he had heard them or was merely watching his surroundings, neither could be sure. He turned back to his party, and there was a whirl of icy and snow. They were gone without warning, leaving only the sound of the wind cutting across the open space where they had been. The two trespassers looked at each other, realization setting in and Loki grabbed hold of Sif's hand and they too were gone before she had a chance to protest.

* * *

TBC

A/N: I'm pretty sure Sif's going to kill Loki. Yep, there's your spoiler. That's how it ends. Forget the Jotuns, Loki, fear the goddess of war that you continuously piss off.

Please feel free to feed the author's addiction to reviews. It helps her write, I promise. It also sparks some _very _interesting conversations that I can see affecting this story as it goes.


	5. Part Five

A/N: I *know* I said I wasn't going to put up another 2-in-1 day bit, but I've had a rather bad turn in the evening so I wrote brotherly fluff. I needed to share. :P Also, this is your disclaimer: wine was involved. Typos may occur.

**Part Five.**

They landed as if being tossed out of the back of a wagon, both on hands and knees and the sorcerer barely able to catch his breath. Sif felt like she might hurl and closed her eyes to wait out the rolling sensation that the ground seemed to give now.

"I hate you," she rasped, opening her eyes and then quickly shutting them again.

Loki stood, not feeling much sturdier. "We don't have time for you to hate me just yet."

Finally she was able to crack open one eye and then the other, finding the ground solid beneath her hands and knees. The prince was reaching down to her, offering her a hand up. She took it, mumbling a quick thanks, and noticed they had landed in what was commonly referred to as Frigga's Garden. "Why here?"

Loki looked as if he might be slightly embarrassed, but quickly masked it. "I didn't have time to aim," he said with a shrug. _And this was safe._ "We need to go now. If Leifr is approaching early, Father must be told. We cannot afford to show any signs of weakness here."

Sif nodded and gave a mental curse as the trickster started off. She kept up with his quick stride as they moved through the palace and she noticed, after a glance at him, that he looked entirely put together. He'd had a line of bruising along his cheekbone and a gash above his left eye just a few moments before, she was sure, but there was nothing there now. His hair was smoothed back in his usual fashion and his clothes, having been filthy with the snowy grime of Jotunheim, had somehow been replaced with clean garments. She silently cursed his magic.

The stoic guards were at the closed doors. One was, much to Loki's surprise, speaking to his elder brother in a very firm yet respectful tone. Lyall was with him, looking slightly bored as he leaned against a pillar, long legs crossed at the ankles. He perked at the sound of footsteps and offered a wave. "Found your brother," he said and Thor turned.

"Loki! Where in the Nine Realms have you been?"

"I need to speak with Father," he said by way of acknowledgement. He began to move forward, hand outstretched to open the door, but the guards lowered their spears, blocking his path. He shot them an indignant look even as his brother explained.

"I've been trying to get in for the past hour, but he will see no one."

"It's important," Loki directed at the guards, but they did not move.

Lyall offered a shrug. "Thor's right, we've been at it for an hour, perhaps more at this point. Odin and my father have barricaded themselves in there and have enchanted the-"

The younger prince of Asgard did not wait for his friend to finish, but growled something inaudible beneath his breath before disappearing. He felt the bite of the enchantments Lyall had been attempting to warn him of, but he'd known it was there and countered enough to push through them with little more than a very steady discomfort and transported himself into the throne room, gaining both Odin and Hoenir's attentions immediately. He pushed back the nauseated feeling that he resurfaced and spoke, his voice giving way to none of pain he felt. "Father, forgive the intrusion, but this could not wait."

Odin nodded, acknowledging that he could speak freely. Well, it looked like Lyall's letter had been discussed his Hoenir, and Loki could only hope, for his friend's sake, that the details had been glossed over. "Leifr and his traveling party are on their way to Asgard."

"Now?" the Allfather asked, masking the shock that his son could hear in his voice.

"Just before us."

"Heimdall has said nothing of it."

The trickster's expression darkened. "They did not call on the Bifrost for travel."

"Perhaps I should have heeded Lyall's words more closely," Hoenir murmured.

"We mustn't act in haste," Odin said thoughtfully, looking at his son. "Find your brother. We will greet them."

"Open the door and he's been found," Loki answered and he didn't miss the glint in his father's eye when he spoke next.

"Very well then. Let us show the new king of Jotunheim that Asgard is not to be taken by surprise."

* * *

Thor was not happy. Sif had been reluctantly unwilling to tell him where she and his brother had been and he had no time to interrogate Loki on it as their father and King Hoenir announced that the Jotuns had come to Asgard early and they would meet them on the Rainbow Bridge. Sif was sent off to the healer, a messenger to Frigga to alert her of the change, and the two kings and three princes to the stables for horses to ride out to meet the Frost Giants.

"Do you need a healer?" the crowned prince asked quietly as his brother pulled himself up on the beautiful black horse that he often rode.

"Why would I?"

"I'm no fool, Loki, please-"

Intelligent green eyes were suddenly on him, sharp and warning. "Then you should know that I will tell you what I can _when_ I can." He stopped and gripping the reins so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Please trust me, brother."

Thor felt his irritation melt into worry and he fought the urge to reach out and pull his brother into a tight embrace. He didn't want to admit it to himself - where he knew the younger prince had been - because if he did he would also have to admit that their father had willingly sent him there by all appearances, and Odin knew - he knew - what that place did to his adopted son.

Instead they were forced to ride in silence, Odin as solid and silent ahead of them as he had been for days. Even Lyall, ever talkative and cheerful around the two brothers, seemed to have a cloak of unease about him, riding along side his father's horse at a decent pace. Thor felt as if he might have been the only one left in the dark of very, very important events and he was not happy with it.

Just as predicted there was a small party of Jotuns waiting on the Rainbow Bridge with a very unhappy looking Heimdall as their guard. His first glance was to Loki, gaze not quite accusing, but something very close to it. His all-seeing eyes then turned to Odin. "My king, our guests have arrived early."

Odin nodded his acknowledgement, dismounting with his sons behind him. Guards filtered in, not leaving the kings alone to untested, would-be friends, and he approached the awaiting Jotuns. "You are three days early, young king."

"I have heard great things of Asgard's _hospitality_," Leifr said easily, his voice smoother than his father's had been and he did not show the signs of war as his guards did. He wore an easy smile as he spoke, a strange thing on a Jotun's features. "Well, when not invited by a prince, that is. I knew I would not be turned away."

The Allfather seemed to weigh the odd statement, so completely foreign to the way that things had ever been done when dealing with the Giant race, but after a moment he nodded his approval and the air around them became more relaxed as guards on either side eased their stance.

Leifr moved forward, towering over the Asgardians and Hoenir. He stood only about a head taller than the lanky, half-Jotun prince from Beyond the Vale. "My greetings, King Odin and King Hoenir. I am, as you know already, Leifr Laufeyson, King of Jotunheim. My mother and my personal guards are with me for talks of this treaty. I do hope that peace between our different people-" his eyes moved, resting on both Loki and Lyall for a moment longer than the rest - "is as inevitable here as it has felt on my world."

The king of the Jotuns paused, looking fully to Hoenir now. "I know that your kingdom and mine, King Hoenir, have had many troubles and many heartaches between us. I do hope we can put that in the past now. Prince Lyall?"

Lyall stiffened at being named directly, something that rarely happened in his own courts. He was a silent observer in his kingdom, speaking little and listening to everything. It was only when he settled around his peers that his tongue loosened to the usual and cheerful speaking that the Odinsons were so accustomed to by now.

"Peace is long overdue," Hoenir said carefully.

Red eyes now turned to Thor and Loki. "And the sons of Odin. I have heard of you two. The Thunderer and the Trickster, you're called in many parts of the Nine. Though, I say you are able to keep your secrets a bit closer to you than those Beyond the Vale, hmm? Prince Loki, have I seen your face somewhere before?"

"We have never met," Loki answered silkily. He found himself close to his brother, as if Thor would somehow protect him against the dangerous words that threaten to leave the Jotun king's lips. Most that stood with them knew their family secret, but there were guards with the that did not. Rumous spread like a fire through dry brush in Asgard's halls, and it was a miracle the secret had been kept so long.

"I think we have. I know your face."

The young king was bent down now, inspecting Loki second prince felt himself stiffen under the appraisal and he couldn't stop the reaction. Thankfully, Thor stepped closer still.

"Perhaps when my brother was taken hostage in your world?" the thunder god growled, his voice rumbling.

Leifr stood straight at that, like a bully caught by one in authority. "Most likely not. I was far from the palace at that time. Though I do hear such stories of it." Ruby eyes shifted to Loki once more. "You should return with us for a time, Prince. Much has changed since your last formal visit to us."

"Certainly you would like to be settled," Odin offered, effectively cutting off the direction of the conversation. Leifr gave a nod after a moment and they began the wholly unnerving trip back towards the citadel in which no one seemed certain of exactly what the other truly thought.

* * *

Loki was drowning. He knew that he must be drowning because he couldn't breathe, he couldn't see, and he couldn't even cry out for help. He thrashed around, instincts for survival kicking in and he was only pushed further under the water's edge. He looked up, everything blurred through the water and he could see a hand reaching for him. It pushed him further and further until his lungs burned.

Then he saw them, those red eyes that had haunted his dreams for years now. Laufey's face split into a cruel smile and his hand closed around the Asgardian prince's throat and all Loki could feel was the downward motion. He tried to scream, but he choked against it. Then it froze, like ice, and Laufey's face grew younger, less scarred and more calculating. "Hello, brother," Leifr whispered.

Loki sat up in bed, gasping and choking for air. There was no water, no ice, no Frost Giants. Not here, at any rate. He was in his own room for the first night in four days. He'd come home, but Jotunheim had followed him in more ways than just his dreams.

"Brother?"

Green eyes flickered towards the door, wide and haunted, almost as if they did not recognize the speaker. Loki didn't move, didn't blink, even as Thor sat carefully on the bed next to him, but simply stared at the now vacant space that the elder prince had just occupied. Thor watched him for several long moments, not wanting to spook him before he came fully from the dream, and when his little brother finally turned to look at him he felt his heart breaking. He gave Loki no room to argue as he pulled him close, wrapping his brawny arms around his brother's slender frame and pulled him close. He held him until the trickster laid his head against one broad shoulder and returned the embrace. They sat there, Loki's face buried in the crook of Thor's neck, his body shaking and his breathing uneven for many long moments. Thor said nothing, but raised one large hand up to hold the back of the younger god's neck in an affectionate gesture.

At last the younger prince's breathing evened out and he seemed to relax a bit, still holding tight.

"You went to Jotunheim." Thor's voice was low and strong. Loki clung to it.

"Yes."

"At Father's bidding?"

There was a pause, a long and terrible pause, before the dark haired prince answered in barely a whisper. "Yes."

A sigh escaped Thor's lips and he closed his eyes. Thunder rolled outside the large window. "Why..." He stopped, feeling his brother's breath hitch again. He seemed so small in his arms like this and it reminded him of how many pieces the younger prince had been shattered into and just how many times. He would forever be pulling those shards together to put back into something that resembled himself, but they would never fit just right. No matter how well crafted his mask was, they could never fit perfectly again. "Tell me."

"I just want to forget it."

"You'll just dream."

"I was dreaming anyway. I'll still dream anyway."

Thor was nearly crushing him now, burying his nose in in dark hair and feeling tears of his own sting his eyes. "He should not have asked that of you."

"I was the one that said yes. He did not force me."

Thor frowned. "He knew that you would not say no, brother."

Loki sniffed against his shoulder, not quite willing to relinquish his grip even if he had begun to feel a bit silly in it all. He was not a child anymore. Far from it. There were no monsters under the bed. _No_, a voice seemed to say,_ the monsters are here as guests_.

Thor kissed the top of his head and untangled himself, motioning for Loki to stay put. He moved silently, sparking the fire in a lamp by the bedside. Light filtered through the corner of the room, enough for the thunderer to get a good look at his brother's face. The illusion had worn off and Loki hadn't bothered to put it back. Bruises discoloured his cheekbone and there was a half-healed gashed above his eye. There was another smaller one across the bridge of his nose and it looked as if his lip had been recently split. Thor retook his seat on the bed, one hand going to the side of the younger prince's face. This was all he could see, he thought darkly. What about what he could not?

"I'm fine," Loki murmured when he realized what Thor was looking at. He reached up to move the hand away, but it would not budge. "I'm fine, Thor."

"Why did you go?" he asked in the barest of whispers.

"Father needed-"

"And what?" Thor snapped. "You thought he'd love you more for it? You've put up so many layers of protection, brother, but is this the truth? Is that why you went?" He waited, watched, and though the trickster made no physical move he saw it in his eyes. "He loves you as a son."

"I know."

"Obviously not." Thor paused, trying to get a feel for the words before he spoke them so that he might not cause more damage. "Do you think mother loves you?"

"Of course. That's never been in question."

"And me? Am I not your brother, if not by the blood we were born by then by the blood we shed together since?"

The smallest of smiles perked the dark haired prince's lips. "You are most certainly, above all else, my brother."

Thor joined in with his smile and kissed his forehead. "I'm still angry with you."

"For what?" Loki asked, startled by the abruptly light tone.

"Leaving me with all those old windbags. Bram was my only source of help."

"Feel my daily pain and think on it some when you ask me to sit in on another one of those bloody meetings you don't think you have time for," Loki groused, mostly good-naturedly.

Thor laughed at this and scooted his brother over, making room for himself as he turned the light back down.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm tired."

"You have your own room."

"What if you have another nightmare?"

"I'm not a child, Thor."

"I know," the crowned prince said with a smile and buried his face down in Loki's pillow, leaving the younger brother no choice but to curl up on the other side of the bed. A few minutes later, when Thor's snores filled his ears and one large arm flopped over him, Loki smiled softly into the darkness and the nightmares were at bay.

* * *

TBC


	6. Part Six

**Part Six.**

* * *

The next morning dawned far too early for his liking and Loki had a difficult time pulling himself from the sweet and dreamless sleep he'd been enjoying. He shifted, blinking in confusion at the weight across him. After a moment he realized that Thor was still there and it was his arm across him, the rest of the thunder god sprawled in all directions and taking up the majority of the fair-sized bed. The trickster snorted softly. _That_ would never change, at least.

"Thor," he called softly, shifting and finding the movement difficult. He frowned and shoved his elbow into his brother's ribs, receiving a startled grunt for his efforts. "Thor, let me up."

"Mm?" the blond managed, blinking tiredly. "Morning."

Loki fought the urge to roll his eyes. No question at all, Thor never changed in this respect. "Do you mind?"

"What?" Thor stopped, mind hazy with sleep, and finally realized that he was blocking the younger prince from rising. He mumbled what Loki thought was an apology and rolled over, releasing him.

Loki rose and moved through his room silently, changing and inspecting the fading signs of Jotunheim that littered his face and the rest of his body. He glanced back at his still-snoozing brother before pulling his sleeping shirt over his head and eyeing the bruises up and down his ribcage. He'd received them in the last scuffle before the left when he'd been caught by a sudden-formed block of ice that one of the Giants had brought up from the ground. They were dark in places, turning a variety of colours and he winced as he ran a long finger across them, wondering if the ribs below were just bruised or worse.

"Perhaps it will be easier to speak of it now that it's light?"

Thor's voice was unexpected, as the trickster was sure he'd been asleep, but he did not look at him as he continued his inspection. His brother had already seen, what was the point in hiding it now? "There's not much to tell. You already know that I went at Father's bidding. I took Sif with me, as it would not have been prudent to ask you along."

"I don't see why that would be the case," Thor answered as he stretched and yawned, not looking quite ready to rise.

"Because you are the crowned prince."

"You're a prince."

"One known for my misdeeds. It would not have been too difficult to shift the blame away from from the House of Odin should I have been caught."

"But you didn't tell me before you left."

Green eyes glanced back at the blond thunderer. How was it that Thor managed to sound so absurdly childlike sometimes? "You would have either told me not to go or demanded to accompany me."

"You never gave me the chance to do either."

"I know."

Thor sighed, sitting up and swinging his long legs over the side of the bed. "We've discussed this," he murmured after a moment, watching his younger brother intently as he pulled a tunic over his head, purposefully ignoring the words. "The part where you make a decision for me and don't bother to-"

"Isn't that what you would have done, if I'd told you?"

"You don't know because you didn't ask!"

"There was no good scenario in it, Thor. If you'd stayed you'd still have known, and you are a terrible liar."

"Were you seen?"

Loki paused, expression darkening and he looked in the mirror. His gaze lingered there a moment, thoughts falling to that moment when Leifr had turned to look in their direction and the way he'd spoken when he arrived. It was as if he'd known. "I cannot be certain," he said at last.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"We found copious amounts of trouble, which was not what we were searching for. You would have had great fun. Next time you'll go and I'll stay." The words were said flippantly, so when Thor crossed the room and pulled the younger prince into another tight hug, irritation flared. "Stop coddling me, Thor. I'm _fine_."

Thor released him as he squirmed. Strange, he thought as he watched the trickster, that in the night when all the lights were lowered and the palace was silent, that was when Loki let down his guards and rushed to his brother's protection as he'd done when they were young, but when the sun came up so did the walls. Loki lied, that was the one truth Thor was sure of. Loki always lied, especially when it came to his fears.

"Forgive me, brother. There are times I fear losing you entirely all over again," Thor said at last, voice low and pained. If Loki wouldn't be honest, he would.

This seemed to catch the trickster off his guard and it took a moment before he smiled thinly. "I won't go anywhere you can't find me, brother."

Thor's expression brightened and he gathered Loki into one last hug before setting him back down on the floor before he grumbled too much. "Breakfast?"

At this, Loki's lips stretched into a quirked smirk. "Perhaps clothing might be the best first choice."

The crowned prince looked down to his own sleeping shirt and a pair of what Jane had assured him were very Midgardian sleeping pants. He shrugged and left the room without another word.

* * *

By the time the pair of Asgardian princes made it to the room that they often took breakfast in, Lyall was there, all smiles and jokes with the Warriors Three and the Lady Sif. He offered a wave to the brothers as they entered and shot Loki a devilish grin as he took a seat across from the foreign prince and Sif.

"So?" Lyall drawled, looking near to bursting with something that made Loki feel ill at ease.

"So what?" the trickster asked and reached for a pastry that was set in the middle of the table.

"Four days in Jotunheim with the _quite_ stunning Lady Sif."

Sif shot him a look that said this was not the first compliment she'd received from him that morning.

"Yes, I suppose we're both quite fortunate that neither of us killed the other," Loki said before he popped a bite size cinnamon roll in his mouth.

Lyall caught Thor's eyes and grinned broadly even as the thunderer chuckled at the conversation that had already been had between them. "Tread carefully," the elder prince warned.

"Well?"

Fandral seemed to tune into the conversation and burst out with a laugh as he looked between Sif and Loki. "_Them_?"

Loki's thin lips quirked at the edges. "My dear friend," he said slowly, "I do believe you're mistaken. If anything at all were to happen between the Lady Sif and I, I do fear she'd cut my throat in my sleep."

"Oh, Loki, do give me credit. You'd be awake," the dark-eyed warrior snapped, though there was a glint of humour in her own eyes that sent Lyall into hoots of laughter.

The prince motioned towards Sif as if her words explained everything. "I do regret to disappoint you, Lyall."

Lyall looked ready to say more, but was cut short as the door opened and Leifr entered with his mother in tow. Gisla, they'd heard her called, but the only formal introduction she had received was to the two kings and, they assumed, to Queen Frigga. She stood as tall as the prince from Beyond the Vale, eyes a dark red and they watched everything around her with judgment in them. She sneered, murmuring something to her son that laughed and motioned her in anyway.

"My _friends_," Leifr greeted, his voice light and cheerful. He was a charmer, it was clear enough to see, which was such a rarity from his world. Perhaps Gisla had felt he needed a different upbringing in order to rule when others could not.

He received nods of acknowledgement, but not much more. He took a seat next to Loki, watching the younger man stiffen at first, but the prince held his tongue and continued to pick at his food. Thor, on his brother's other side, resisted the urge to glare, and instead turned his gaze to Gisla who took a seat next to Lady Sif, opting for the smaller space between the lady warrior and Hogun than the open one next to Lyall.

"I hope your stay in Asgard has been comfortable," the crowned prince said carefully, eyes flickering to Loki as if asking for warning if he began down the wrong path of conversation. Loki, though, seemed fully intent on staring at the food on his plate.

"It's a bit warm," Leifr said, as the question seemed to have been left open for either of them, "though that was to be expected." His eyes moved between the prince at his side and the one across the table. "Do tell me, now that we are amongst more comfortable company, how do the two of you fair with it?"

Lyall's eyes widened and then narrowed at the openness of the question.

"Do not bother the half-breed with such mundane questions, Leifr, even if it is for your own entertainment," Gisla said curtly and without looking at Lyall as she did.

Loki's eyes flashed and he felt Thor tense beside him. He gave his brother credit as he did not rise. "_Prince_ Lyall is as much a guest under our father's roof as you are, my lady, and a kinder tongue would be better received," the thunderer rumbled dangerously.

She snorted, eyes turning to his younger brother at his side as she spoke. "It's to reason that you'd jump to a half-breed's defence, Thor Odinson, with the company you keep. Tell me, how does one such as Odin raise a bastard son of his greatest foe in his own house and treat it with anything akin to the affections you Aesir cling to?"

"_Enough_," Thor snapped and the tension could be felt in the air, as if lightning might strike then and there.

There were several long, tense moments of silence before Volstagg stood from his place. "You'll forgive me, my princes," he said in a strangely formal manner, "but the company has ruined even my appetite."

They watched as he left a recently re-filled plate of food on the table, Fandral, and then Hogun following behind. Sif stood as well, dark eyes catching Loki's. "A moment of your time?" she asked and he knew she was providing him with an out.

Leifr laughed openly from his place. "Look at the devotion of the few you keep around you. I would have thought it would have been for Thor's sake, but it appears that, contrary to everything I've heard, they've grown fond of you. Where is the silver tongue I've heard so much of? Trust me, you will not harm our feelings by it. We Jotuns carry a very thick skin, as you know."

Loki looked up slowly, green eyes cold and calculating as he spoke. "Lady, I'd say better a bastard child taken in and adopted by the Allfather than a former queen with no real power outside of what she siphons off of her son." He stood without another word, ignoring the way her her eyes grew darker with anger. Lyall and Thor followed his example as they, along with Sif, moved to leave the Jotuns alone in the breakfast hall.

"Well done, Loki," Leifr cheered. "I've rarely seen someone silence my mother with so few words. Well done indeed." He paused, watching the younger prince carefully. "In that moment, I could truly see Father in you."

Loki offered no retort and he pulled Thor along with him as they left, Leifr's chuckles following them down the hall.

* * *

TBC

A/N: Does anyone know if it's stated in the comics (or anywhere, for that matter) how communications happen between Midgard and Asgard? I would think there would need to be a way and that, while Heimdall can hear them and see them on Earth, I have a hard time seeing Director Fury shouting up a message to him. Entraining as that thought might be, I'm afraid not very plausible. So, does anyone know if there's a cannon for this, or even if you have ideas for how it should be dealt with? I'd appreciate your thoughts.


	7. Part Seven

A/N: I know I did not post anything yesterday, so I will attempt to post another chapter this evening. I thought it'd be better to do two shorter ones than make you wait until the end of the day for one long one.

So... Anyone lucky enough to he at San Diego comic con this weekend? If so, I'm officially jealous of you. I've seen the footage from Tom Hiddleston's surprise (?) appearance. If you haven't seen it, hop on either YouTube or tumblr. It's a must. He's so adorable.

* * *

**Part Seven**

Loki did not stop until they'd reached the outer halls of the palace that opened up to overlook the city. The fresh air blew past them and he finally released the fuming crowned prince. He did not look Thor in the eye, nor the others, as he leaned against the railing, eyes steadily watching the early morning movements of the kingdom below them. He could not, lest every ounce of his control shatter.

"That arrogant, terrible, insolent, son of a-" Thor cut himself off, letting loose a growl of frustration as he usually kept quiet these days. If there had been something to wreck, he might have, but Loki had made sure to lead him to a place that everything was very secure in its place. "He thinks to come here, to _our_ home, and insult-"

"What they said is not untrue," his younger brother murmured and he could feel everyone's eyes on his back as he spoke. "Lyall is half-Jotun and I am, in the strictest sense of the word, a bastard son."

"But-"

"No," Loki cut him off, looking as if he were just barely keeping himself in check. It was a battle not to walk back in there and slay them where they sat, but that would do no good. Perhaps he'd feel better in the moment - he was quite certain he'd feel better about it in the moment - and perhaps they might even deserve it, but it would do no good in the grander scheme of things, and that was what they needed to focus on. Otherwise they were simply pawns in the Jotuns hands. "Peace with the Jotuns does not mean that we must like them, Thor, it means that we do not kill them and they do not kill us. That is all there is to this. Another few days of their words is just that and we'll be done with them."

"And if there's more to their words?" Lyall murmured softly, joining Loki against the railing. "You and Sif were only there a few days, did you even get into the gathering places? We know nothing more of what they may be planning than we did before you both went, other than the alert that they'd come early."

"It was a power play."

"People make power plays for a reason."

Loki sighed heavily, long fingers massaging the bridge of his nose. He just wanted it over and done with, whatever the case might be. "They do," he breathed out at last, turning to face his friends and brother. He looked as if he might say something, but then didn't. He bit back the words instead, the silent decision made. "Yes they do," he repeated again softly. "Thor, please tell Father I'll be along a bit late to the beginnings of the talks. I'm sure you'll be fine without me."

"Where are you going?"

A thin smile stretched his lips but didn't reach his eyes. He simply reached out, hand touching his brother's arm in an affectionate gesture he'd developed - as openly affectionate as Loki was when other's eyes were on him - and turned.

Thor caught his thin wrist. "Please don't keep secrets from me, brother," he pleaded.

"I'm not. I just don't know anything of fact yet. I swear I will tell you when I do."

The crowned prince sighed as he watched his brother leave. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Loki lies.

* * *

There was something awe-inspiring about the reconstructed Observatory at the end of the Rainbow Bridge. The Bifrost had been one of Loki's great joys to study as a child, often trying to sneak past Heimdall to get a better look at the workings that could not be easily seen. He was always caught in his younger days, often sent on his way, and very rarely allowed a closer look. In those childhood days, he'd thought Heimdall hated him. Now, as he approached and the Gatekeeper's all-seeing eyes came to rest on him, he was sure of it.

There were no greetings of "Good Heimdall" or "My Prince" between them any longer. It truly depended on the day if he Loki received much more than a grunt of acknowledgement at all. Today was not a good day.

"Let me assure you I had nothing to do with their entrance," Loki stated as he approached. He knew what the Gatekeeper thought, and it would be best to clear the air if he were to have any hope of gleaning the knowledge he needed.

"Your words mean little here," Heimdall responded, eyes boring through him. They might leave a physical hole if they stayed fixed any longer.

"Even so, we have a common problem at hand. One that is shared with all of Asgard." He paused, waiting.

"You knew of their arrival," Heimdall pointed out, "and you cloaked yourself from my sight."

"At Odin's wishes."

"The Allfather requested it?" the taller Asgardian asked, tone declaring his blatant disbelief.

"Not... explicitly." Loki closed his eyes. He was too tired and too frustrated to play at this any longer. It was very clear that the Gatekeeper only put up with the second prince because he had to and for no other reason. They had never found common ground between them again after Loki had left him in a block of ice and they probably never would. "Were you able to sense their arrival?"

"I was not."

"I thought as much," Loki mused aloud. He took in a deep breath, mind pulling the possibilities together. "Perhaps-"

"Asgard is not the only world that has received cloaked visitors as if late." Heimdall's bright eyes had been closed as he spoke, but they opened again and Loki resisted the urge to simply return to the palace and forego this particular plan, flimsy as it had seemed at its conception.

When the Gatekeeper did not speak again and Loki did not budge from his place, the prince gave of small snort of irritation. "Would you care to share your meaning perhaps?"

Heimdall studied him carefully. "Knowledge grants great power, and this knowledge is due to the Allfather once it is had in full."

"And alas he has already been contained for the morning. Thor as well. I suppose, _good_ Heimdall, that you must settle on me. What have you seen?" When silence once again met him he felt as if he might snap, but contained it. "This is for Asgard. You may hate me all that you wish, but do not allow that hatred to stand in the way that my methods might actually help our home."

Heimdall stepped forward from his place so that he was standing on the edge of the bridge, overlooking the void that Loki had once dropped into. He looked over at the dark haired prince, as if expecting him to follow, and when he reluctantly did one large dark hand stretched out of the nothingness. The trickster's magic aided him in seeing the shared Sight and he briefly wondered if this was how Heimdall saw everything.  
It was as if looking through a prism, the images pulling at odd angles and yet fit together in such a way that Loki knew they were not of the same originating space. He saw the Elves - Light and Dark - Trolls, Dwarves, and various other creatures of the Nine Realms. Some seemed wholly undisturbed, but Heimdall's Sight showed much to fret over in the way that the ice gathered around them. It may not have been clear to all that saw it, but Loki knew its meaning and he felt Jotunheim's deep-set cold within him as his green eyes fell onto the image of a Mortal that he recognized from his time on earth. Through the fractured images he could be seen speaking with a few younger agents of SHEILD, looking very much like he was after the elusive answer to his own icy problem.

"The Jotuns mean to attack the Nine Realms," Loki breathed the sudden realization. "This news must immediately go to Father. Why hadn't you sent word?"

"Look there, Loki. What do you see?"

"I see the war that Asgard has tried so desperately to avoid at the entrance way of all the Nine!"

"You see ice and you see questions," Heimdall corrected.

"We know that-"

"And you, that always has everything in place before your move is made, what will your accusation be? That Asgard's Gatekeeper saw ice building on all the worlds?"

Loki frowned. The Jotuns would turn it around on Asgard if this was not handled properly. That was why they'd cloaked themselves to begin with. He'd already witnessed the cleverness of Leifr and he would not be outdone by him in it. "If they mean to attack an ally of ours," he mused out loud. "Thor is better suited for speaking with the Mortals. Has he done as he was supposed to and gone to the meeting or is he lingering and waiting?"

Heimdall seemed to search the palace for a moment before he found the crowned prince. "Your brother is where he is meant to be."

The trickster sighed. "Very well. Then it looks as if SHEILD must settle for me." He began to cast the spell to slip through to Midgard, but stopped very suddenly, eyes locking with the Gatekeeper's. "I know you hold no regard for me, and I should not truly expect you to, but... Please watch over him for me while I am away. I'm not yet certain why, if their goal is to take Asgard as they would the other worlds, why the king of Jotunheim would come here himself."

When he received the nod of understanding, Loki was gone, shifting through the branches of Yggdrasil to a world he'd much rather avoid.

* * *

TBC


	8. Part Eight

A/N: I still just can't get over Tom's Loki bit at SDCC yesterday. I've had it on re-play. It's just fantastic. Absolutely *fantastic*

* * *

**Part Eight.**

Loki was not sure what he expected when he slipped through and into Midgard. Though they had not called him to earth when they called Thor - as had been apart of the original bargain struck between Fury and Odin as recompense for Loki's crimes - he had provided them with expertise on subjects from time to time that his brother had informed him had come in quite useful. He did not assume that to blot out the stain he'd left on the mortal world, but he'd hoped it would have given him at least a bit of leverage to get done what he needed. Apparently not everyone in SHIELD was informed of the god of mischief's contributions.

They'd been on him instantly and no attempt at explanation seemed to work. He held back, calm and stern as he spoke to them, almost as if he were speaking to children. "You must _listen_," he told one of his would-be captors. "I must speak to someone on-"

"Like hell," the SHIELD agent hissed. "You think we don't know who you are?"

"I don't care who you think I am. I need to-" The gloved fist to his jaw really didn't hurt. There wasn't enough power behind it to be more than an annoyance, but Loki sighed. "I need to speak to the agent in charge of the icing incident." He wasn't sure quite how they would have categorized it, but the fact that they didn't seem to care that he knew about it spoke volumes at to the lack of information they had.

"You'll speak to him when he's ready," the agent growled as they shuffled him into what he supposed was a holding cell. It seemed quite a downgrade from the one that he'd been in the time before and he hardly thought they knew at all who he was if this is where they'd put him.

He sat patiently and gave them as much time as he thought he could allow. He would try to do it their way, as small and pathetic as it might be. Finally, when he could wait no longer, he shook his head. His green eyes flickered up to the camera that he knew was in the corner of the room. "Very well," he murmured and laid a hand against the door.

Midgardian mechanics were nothing as long as one knew how to give them patience. His magic wrapped around the workings of the door and it slid open, allowing him to simply walk out. His boots were silent against the steel floors of the ship and he moved with ease once he'd decided it was best not to be seen.

There was no panic and he wondered if they knew he was gone at all. Perhaps they hadn't truly known who they had picked up. It didn't matter as he stretched out, looking for the mortal that Heimdall had been focused on. It took him a moment, his magic stretching thinner and thinner until he found him, and he was able to open the door with the same ease.

It led to an office with with only one other occupant sitting at his desk. It took only the barest of moments for the mortal to realize first the at the door had opened, and then that no one was readily seen. Hazel eyes widened and then narrowed as the trickster showed himself, and Loki lifted a single finger to his lips, requesting his silence and said, "I've not come here to harm you."

Phil Coulson frowned at the words, but made no movement to get past the prince to the door or to call for anyone outside. He eyed him warily for a moment before settling to cross his arms over his chest. "Then what have you come for?"

"Our mutual benefit, I should hope." Loki held his palms outward to show he was unarmed and took a cautious step forward. When Coulson merely watched, the trickster felt the slightest bit more at ease. "You've been monitoring something not of your world."

"Caught that, did you?" Coulson asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Director Fury thought someone from Asgard might. We'd hoped for Thor."

"I fear my brother is otherwise occupied."

Immortal and mortal stood watching each other, both looking as if they expected the other to attack at any moment. Loki didn't blame Coulson, per say, as they had very little interaction since the day that he'd ripped a hole through him from behind. He knew Coulson was aware of the arrangement and he'd seen him when it had been made, but overall the human had done well to avoid him.

"You do know you're in breach of our agreement? You're not, strictly speaking, allowed on earth without Thor."

"Our times are growing very desperate. Perhaps I can offer you something for this small allowance."

"How much do you know and what can you offer us?" Phil asked at last, tone suggesting that, while he was wary, he was more interested in getting whatever evidence he could together to protect his home.

Loki understood the sentiment. "Information. Perhaps, if we can act quickly enough on our end, we can even stop an attack before the order comes down for it. I must know, Agent Coulson, what you know."

"What do you think we know?"

Thin lips stretched in a grimace. "I think you've seen things you don't understand, things that your ancestors' ansestors' ansestors could not recall. Things that have fallen into legend."

"You say a lot of nothing, you know that?"

Loki reached out, magic tingling his fingers as the illusion filled the room. It was as if a snowstorm had come, though it did not feel that way. The images were knew, fresh from his own memories, and he saw Coulson's eyes widen though he tried to hide his surprise. "They are called Jotuns," the prince said slowly, an image flickering of one. "Have you seen them here on Midgard?"

"Yes," Coulson breathed, eyes fixated. "It's the dead of summer and a town not far from the one Thor visits in New Mexico was frozen completely over. It looked like this-" he motioned to the illusion - "and the people were trapped in blocks of ice. We lost a good team to them, but they were able to transmit images before they went down."

Loki let the illusion fade and watched as Coulson moved to his computer, pulling the images and sliding them over to the screen so that the dark haired prince could see them. It was just as he described: the land was completely covered in snow and ice, with houses, shops and people trapped within it. It was just like the stories that Odin had told he and Thor about the Last Great War with the Frost Giants.

"The wall between the worlds is thinner there, that's probably why they chose that location. The summer heat, I understand, is rather difficult in that part so that explains the complete icing over of the town." Loki spoke almost as if he were thinking aloud, his sharp green eyes moving from photo to photo. "Have you sent others?"

Coulson frowned. "Not yet. We can't lose others until we know what we're up against. They haven't moved beyond this town from what we can tell."

"They wouldn't. They're waiting for those orders, though. That still doesn't explain why they would approach us in the manner that they have. They've not sent enough for an army into our borders, and they risk their king by having him there." He glanced to the mortal man he only half-way speaking to. "Surely they don't find you a threat to the conquering of Asgard. You have no way to travel without our taking you there. It simply doesn't make sense."

Phil stood at his desk, eyeing the taller man carefully. "I need you to be straight: are we looking at an invasion?"

"It will be," Loki answered honestly.

"What can you tell us to fight it?"

The trickster snorted, leaning against the desk with one hand and running the other along his face and back through his hair. "I'm not sure you can as you are, though we might have a chance."

"By we-"

"Asgard."

"So what, humanity just sits around on your word?"

"No. Rally your Avengers if you will, warn them of the dangers that they face. Thor will not be able to help you here. May I have copies of these?"

Coulson gave a snort and the edge of his lips quirked upward even as the printer began to spit out the photos. "You're playing some sort of game with this."

"All politics and war are a chess game, Agent Coulson. I simply mean to topple the opponent king before the war begins."

"If you can't-"

"I'll send word in any way that I can." He took the photos offered and caught the shorter man's eye. Loki studied him for a long moment before offering a tired smile. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but know that I've found your world useful in saving my own. Perhaps that puts my actions a bit more into perspective."

"It does," Coulson agreed. "But tell me, before you disappear, what do we need to focus on? What's their weakness? You said you'd give me something and as of now you've given us nothing."

"They're Frost Giants. I've always found fire to be the surest way of fighting the cold. Thank you for your help, Agent Coulson." And then he was gone.

Phil frowned, reaching for his phone. "Director? You're not going to believe the visit I just had."

* * *

Loki found himself in his mother's garden once again when he landed back on Asgard. He frowned, making a mental note to be more careful of where he came back through the branches. This place had a strong connection to Yggdrasil, but more obvious reasons might present themselves if anyone were to take notice.

"Beautiful garden, isn't it?"

Damn. Perhaps they already had. Loki turned to see Gisla standing atop the highest step, looking down on him with three guards at her side. Her lips twisted into what might have been meant to be a smile, but it was gnarled and bitter and hardly a worthwhile representation.

"Quite beautiful," Loki acknowledged, climbing the steps at as much of a distance as he dared without being blatantly obvious. They were his only exit and he was more than ready to make it.

One of the Frost Giants moved closer to him, blocking his path.

"I fear you're quite the curious one, aren't you? I've seen you skulking about since we set foot on this world. There doesn't seem to be a move you make that doesn't have at least three ulterior motives backing it."

Loki remained silent, even as the queen's other guards began moving towards him. He was pinned in with the steps behind him, and all the hopping back and forth had left him feeling drained. There would be no rabbiting, but at least the photographs that Coulson had provided him with were well hidden and they were not the sort of thing she would look for.

One of the Jotuns took a step towards him, towering. Green eyes flickered briefly to the queen. "I do have many things to attend to."

"Not so many," she answered and motioned to her guard.

Loki did not have time to react when the Giant backhanded him with such force that he was lifted into the air and came down at the bottom of the steps, rolling on the soft dirt. The prince gave a short pained sound as he pressed the palms of his hands against the ground and began to rise. The Jotun's boot came down against him, crushing him into the ground before rolling him again with a kick to the ribs.

There was no time to scramble to his feet, or even to get his feet beneath him at all so he might have a chance of fighting back. Large, blue hands held him down, palms pressed firmly against his lower sternum to hold him. Loki stilled instantly, feeling pain blossom from the bruises already along his ribcage as fingers wrapped around the area, but his apparent surrender won him no mercy. A crushing pressure began to increase steadily until he felt the bones begin to bend under the weight. He tried to kick out, but he couldn't quite reach him. The trickster was pinned well and fully.

"As much as I am loathe to say it," Gilsa was saying as she approached, dark eyes fixated on Loki, "I may need your help, boy."

The dark haired prince gasped and cringed against the pain. "And what makes you think-?" His words were cut short and he let out a terrible cry as he heard something snap in his chest, his ribs creaking on either side. One Giant moved to shove a piece of cloth in his mouth to act as a gag, but his queen stopped him.

"It's not needed. The spell covers this. They can't hear him." She turned towards Loki, a look of utter distaste on her features. "Because, little bastard, I will have him tear you apart piece by piece until you give me what I want."

Loki coughed, trying to force the words out several times before they finally came. "And what... what is that?"

"The Casket of Winters." She waited, watching him, searching his expression as if she were waiting for an answer of some kind from him. When she didn't receive it, she gave the guard a wave and he continued to apply pressure, his Giant's hands large enough to wrap around the prince's ribs so that his fingers touched along his spine. Loki choked out another cry, back arching with the pain and it seemed a piece of eternity before it subsided and he lay gasping against the ground. "The Casket," Gisla repeated sternly.

Loki shot her a defiant look, but cried out again as the guard moved to repeat his previous motions. "No! Wait! _Wait_!" He wheezed against the pain, trying to find the breath to allow the words to flow past his lips. "It's... Father keeps it... It's in the vaults, far below the palace."

"How do I reach it?"

"You'll never make it there without being seen."

The crooked smile returned. "Don't worry yourself about that, boy. I have my ways. How do I find it?"

"It's at the bottom-most layer. The..." He stopped, green eyes turning to the Jotun standing over him with his hands still wrapped around his now battered ribs. "I can't get a sentence out... Let go."

"He'll let go when I tell him to let go and not a moment sooner," Gisla hissed. "_Where_?"

"The eastern stairwell wraps around all the way. It's the straightest path."

"Thank you for your help. I assure it did nothing to validate your existence in my eyes." She looked to the guard. "Kill him."

"Wait!" Loki cried, even as the hands began to tighten like a vice around him again. "What if I've lied?"

"Then I don't really care to return to you for information again, do I?" Gisla snapped.

Loki's mind went into overdrive and he cursed his own eagerness to hop through the branches without the use of the Bifrost. It had cost him the strength in his magic that he needed to escape. The one thing it had not cost him was his wits. "Gisla!"

"How dare you call my name as if-"

"You'll never get past the Destroyer. Even if you cast a cloaking spell - a true talent that I was not aware many possessed - it will find you."

"Why tell me this?"

"Take me with you. I am Odin's son. It will do me no harm without orders from the King of Asgard."

The Jotun queen's lips pulled downward in a frown. "If this is a trick..."

"What trick could I pull?"

She snorted. "Make sure he will not run and then bring him along. The _prince_ is going to show us the way."

Her guard gave Loki another crushing squeeze around the middle and he heard something else snap. Dark spots danced across his vision as he was lifted up to be put on his feet, knees giving way instantly. If they caught him or not, he couldn't be sure as everything seemed to spiral down into the darkness that was pulling him. He tried to cling to consciousness with the thought that he needed time to devise a way to warn Thor and their Father, but the nothingness wrapped around him like those hands from his dream and he felt like he might be drowning once again.

* * *

TBC

A/N: So, according to my facebook, a buddy of mine that lives in San Diego, was going to Comic Con, did NOT go to Hall H yesterday to see the Marvel panel. He thought the line was too long. I think he lacked conviction. :P


	9. Part Nine

A/N: I need a day-long nap.

* * *

**Part Nine.**

He couldn't remember, at first, why he hurt so badly. There were so many nightmares to choose from that often his mind would blur them. As he shifted, pain lacing through him so that he couldn't even make a sound against it, he thought that perhaps Thanos had finally come for him. It was only when his eyes opened, blinking against the darkness that splotched his vision that he realized that it was a Jotun shaking him awake and the last few days seemed to piece themselves back together in his memory. "Stop," he grunted, feeling the pain both focus him and threaten to pull him back over the ledge and into unconsciousness again.

"You're not giving orders this day," Gisla's voice echoed in his ears and he found her easily enough.

Loki had known his share of pain in his many years of life. Most of that pain had been brought on either by his own antics gone wrong or his brother's adventures leaving him in the healing rooms afterwards. This, much to his chagrin, was most certainly brought on by taking one step too many in the wrong direction. He had the information - more information than he'd had before, certainly - but it did little good if it died with him.

He found himself propped against the wall of one of the lower levels. The floor was made of stone, as was the wall, and torches burned lowly for the few that might venture this way. He had not been down here in several years now and often preferred to avoid it. His father kept nothing down here that held any interest for him any longer.

"Get him up," the Jotun queen growled, "I'm tired of waiting until he gathers his wits."

The second prince of Asgard was hauled to his feet. He wouldn't have considered the pain he'd felt upon waking to be dull, but with the way it radiated to all parts of his body, he was sure he'd very much like to go back to that level of it. They set him so he was leaning on the wall and he focused on keeping his feet beneath him.

"It's time you prove yourself useful," Gisla said, motioning down the hall.

"You've damaged me too badly to make it that far on my own," Loki said lowly, glaring at her. "How do you expect-"

"Crawl, for all I care," she snapped. "You'll do it or I'll split your skull on these stones."

"Little good that would do you."

"I'd feel better for it," Laufey's widow told him sharply. "Don't think me a fool, little bastard. I know you've got quite a talent for magic. Do you think I had no purpose other than to see you squirm? I don't have access to magic repressors, but I've tied it well enough up with your injuries, I'd say."

Loki gave her no acknowledgement, but he knew her words were true. Everything he had was currently tied up in knitting the broken bones back together. He could divert it, he knew, and mask the pain, but there was no exit that way. There was only the Casket and the Destroyer. He had no time to think as one of the queen's guards pulled him from the wall he was leaning against and tossed him towards their goal. His magic masked enough of the pain to move immediately and he grimaced as he stumbled towards the treasure.

The Casket was set on its pedestal at the end of the short hall, glowing the snowy blue that he remembered very well. His hands hovered over it, trembling very slightly, and he remembered the words he'd spoken to his father. It seemed like a lifetime ago. _Am I cursed?_ He was not entirely sure that the Allfather had spoken truthfully that day when he'd told him no. _You are my son_. Thin lips pursed together in thought as his gaze flickered from the stolen relic to the gate that hid the Destroyer.

"Bring it here, boy. You can't stand there for all eternity and hope to avoid it."

"Yes," Loki murmured, almost to himself. He was the son of Odin and brother to Thor. He took hold of the Casket of Winters and turned as if to walk back. His eyes met Gisla's and he switched the focus of his magic. There was always a crack to be found in every spell, and he found the one in hers. The cloaking charm shattered and the gate opened behind him.

* * *

Thor had been uneasy the majority of the day. Aegir had done all but kick him under the table from his place next to the young heir as the talks dragged on. The crowned prince couldn't help it. Loki had said he would be late, not that he would not be there at all. It grated on him, the worry settling deep within his chest so that it ached uncontrollably. He was aware how quickly this game could turn dangerous and how delicately the matter must be handled.

"Should we break for a bit?" Leifr asked, red eyes directed at the blond Asgardian. "I do fear we're losing your son, Odin."

"Forgive me," Thor spoke, "but my brother-"

"Yes, I thought he should have been here," the king of the Jotuns said easily.

Odin glanced to Hoenir at his side who had been quiet through much of the debates. Lyall, too, had held his tongue even as Leifr had made sharp and what he was sure to think were clever remarks about the past the two worlds held in common. "Perhaps that is best," the Allfather began, but stopped suddenly, single blue eye narrowing.

"Father?" Thor called as he rose.

"Yes," Odin said, "that is certainly best. King Leifr, if you require anything you may ask the servants and they will obtain it for you. A moment?"

Hoenir stood and followed, Lyall catching Thor's eye as if to ask silently what was happening. The elder prince gave the barest of shrugs as the followed their fathers from the room, leaving Aegir and the rest of the advisors with the Jotuns.

"What's happened?" Thor asked as the heavy doors shut behind them.

"Someone has activated the Destroyer in the lower levels," Odin murmured, pace not slowing.

"What's down there?" Lyall asked.

"Everything of danger, that is why it is so well protected. Nothing should have be able to get past the guards, but if it does, the Destroyer will be its end."

They descended the steps in haste, the uncomfortable feeling that had been growing in Thor blossoming anew. He couldn't be sure why as he knew well enough that Loki avoided the lower levels of the palace if he had no reason to be there, but the feeling was strong and growing. He needed to find his younger brother soon, to know that he was well, or he'd never have the focus to listen to Aegir talk of this line or that line of the lengthy truce as he'd done throughout the day.

Guards were not in their place outside of the doors that led to where the Casket of Winters was kept. They looked to have been killed upon entering the chamber, leaving nothing moving amongst the rubble. There had been a battle, that much was certain. Three Frost Giant guards, ones that they had seen often accompany their queen, lay dead, one half buried under what looked to have been part of the arched ceilings. The Casket was missing from its place.

"Loki."

All eyes turned to the crowned prince as he ran down the steps, barely touching each one in his rush. They had not seen his brother when they first entered, as he was much further in the chamber and near the pedestal that usually kept the relic. He was completely still, a few pieces of the ceiling having fallen in around him, but they could not see from where they stood if any damage had been done.

Thor was at his brother's side faster than any might have thought possible. He ran one large hand along his face and smoothed back dark hair. "Loki?" he whispered, voice quivering. He'd known something was wrong. He'd _known_ it, so why hadn't he gone? "I'm sorry, brother. I should have... Loki, open your eyes, please."

As if on command the trickster gave a weak cough, green eyes sliding open very slowly. "Thor?" he rasped, the blond coming into view.

The god of thunder broke into a grin at the sight and he scooped his smaller brother up to embrace him. Loki couldn't hold back the howl of pain that echoed off of the stone walls, causing Thor to freeze with him half lifted, afraid to either continue or set him back down. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Down... Just... Put me down, Thor," Loki rasped and his brother set him to the ground as gently as he could. It took several long moments for the god of mischief to regain something that might have been composure and by the time that he did the small crowd of royals were standing around him. He looked up, cringing under his father's steady gaze. This could have gone much better.

"Well, this is a mess," a voice said from behind and Odin visibly cringed as Leifr descended the steps, surveying the damage. "I'd heard that the younger prince of Asgard had a habit for creating mischief wherever he goes, but this..."

Thor might have said something if his father hadn't taken a knee next to him so that he was closer to his younger son. He watched the way Loki's breathing hitched and he seemed to cringe with each inhale and exhale. "What happened, son?" he asked in surprisingly gentle voice.

Loki's eyes flickered to where Leifr appeared to be taking account of his dead guards and back to the Allfather who merely nodded. "I was... looking into something that Heimdall had mentioned," he said, shifting his weight so that he could sit. He would not appear so weak that he could not do that much. After a moment he felt Thor take hold of him and ease him up so that his back was against the wall. It hurt, but a numbness had set in that he was sure would be bothersome later. "In the end of it, Gisla seemed to think that I'd be useful in obtaining the Casket of Winters. She was... _very_ convincing as her guard seemed more than willing to break every bone in my body to receive that help they wanted."

Leifr snorted in background. "How dare you? Did my mother's words strike you so deep this morning that you'd be willing to lie and kill for it?" He moved forward, but Lyall stepped in the way. The king, not able to use his height as quite the intimidation factor as he usually did, let out a low growl of irritation. "While your loyalty to my bastard, would-be brother is touching, Prince Lyall, I assure you it would not be the first time that Loki had lured someone to their death."

"I am no brother of yours and I lured no one to their death," Loki snapped, feeling Thor's hand on his shoulder. He wasn't sure why, it wasn't as if he were going anywhere in his state.

"Is that so? Even my father when you came to him on his throne with your proposal? Ah? Did you think that small fact had been lost to us with his death?"

"He was fully ready to take me up on the offer, if memory serves. The fact that he was fool enough to think that I would betray my family is-"

"And yet not a year later you were willing to kill the one you now cling to now."

At this Loki was ready to rise, despite the pain, but Thor remained strong and steady. "No, brother," he whispered.

"Enough," Odin growled, effectively silencing all of them. "As often as Loki has been known to bring about trouble, I find it difficult to believe that he would deal these kinds of injuries to himself. These are your mother's guards and your mother is not with them. The Casket of Winters is also missing." The Allfather rose to his full height, not one to back down even to a Giant. "If your mother was involved in this, Leifr Laufeyson, I'd very much like to know where you stand on it."

"She has the Casket then," Loki breathed, eyes flickering towards Leifr.

He gave no outward reaction. "If my mother is truly involved in this theft," he said slowly, carefully, "then she must be held for her crimes."

"I would like to believe in peace between our people," Odin said. "For now, as things are how they are, I would ask you to return to the chambers that were provided. Guards will be placed at the door for your protection. I'd suggest that, should you choose to trust your own, that you keep them inside with you."

"I'm to be your prisoner then?" the young king huffed.

"You are to be our guest, as you have been since you came."

"If you are innocent of your mother's crimes, she will need to do away with you to ascend to power on Jotunheim," Loki pointed out quietly from his place.

Leifr turned to look between the Aesir that watched him carefully. "Very well then," he murmured at last.

As Asgardian guards moved to fulfill Odin's orders, the Allfather turned back to his sons. He seemed to study the younger for a moment, as if weighing the decision to trust his words then and there. "You will tell me the whole story once Rowen has treated you."

Loki met his gaze and, after a moment, pulled the photos that Coulson had provided from their hiding place. "They're set up to attack all the Nine, Father. They've been able to shield themselves from Heimdall's view, but the mortals have caught sight of them. I fear that they meant to steal the Casket for that purpose."

Odin's expression darkened as he looked at the empty space that the relic had stood. "Thor, get him to Rowen."

His eldest nodded and gathered his younger brother as carefully as he could into his arms. Anything the dark haired prince might have said was silenced as the pain became his one thought. He curled closer to his brother, a small whimper escaping his lips, before he was pulled into unconsciousness once more.

* * *

TBC

A/N: I've been watching the interview with Tom Hiddleston on Nerd HQ the last couple of days (busy... so busy) and I love the part where he's talking about when he was reading the script for Avengers and he saw the part where he 'killed' Coulson and he said "Well, this is going to be fun." He is so Loki. He's like a happy Loki.


	10. Part Ten

A/N: I know this is short and I am sorry, but I've been sick most of the day. If it's terrible, that's my excuse.

* * *

**Part Ten**

When their sons were young Odin had told Frigga she doted too often on them. Especially on Loki. "He'll grow to be weak," the Allfather had said, to which she would only smile and reply, "But he'll know he's loved." There had always been that implication, that quiet accusation, that Odin did not love his second son as much as his first. She never asked him why, if that would be the case, did he choose to bring Loki home with him? There were other good men in his army that would have taken the child and raised him well, but he had chosen to bring him to her and call him son. It didn't matter now, because the actions were in the past and Frigga would not change them for all the Nine Realms if it meant losing her youngest.

As they grew, Frigga had learned to let Thor run and tumble and play like the other boys. She might have let Loki as well, if he hadn't been so small. At first, height was not the problem, as the boy had shot up early to the point that they had thought their secret would be more difficult to keep, but he was thin and fragile looking. Then he had stopped growing and Thor had begun, leaving his baby brother looking not much more than a wispy shadow to tag along behind him. Frigga knew that perhaps she had allowed him to cry against her knee too many times, but she hadn't been able to help it. She needed him to know, above all else - above the need to be brave and strong and stout as the Aesir held so highly - that he was loved.

It had nearly killed Frigga to lose him. She still had nightmares of that night when Loki had fallen. Odin had broken it to her as only he could: stoically and with as little outward care for the death of his adopted son as he could muster. She had known it was a lie, on some level, but the moment he'd spoken of all of Loki's wrongs she had unleashed. "You've killed him," she had told him that night, beating her fists into his unyielding armor. "You've killed our son! You couldn't bare to give him what he _needed_, could you?" She had not spoken to him again until she'd found him and his green eyes had been hazed in blue and he had not been her son. Not for a long while after that yet.

The Allmother gave a small sniff, one tear escaping and she blinked the others back. She had found him, though, and she had welcomed him home even if the remnants of the Tesseract had left him with more questions than answers. He had even spoken to her, very briefly, of his time during what he called his year of exile and she hated anyone or anything that had tortured him so. If she had her way she would get her hands around the Jotun queen's neck and watch the life leave her eyes.

Loki stirred in the bed and his mother leaned over, fussing his hair back and placing a kiss against his forehead. Green eyes blinked blurrily open and finally came to focus on her. "Mother," he whispered the greeting.

Her face lit as she smiled. "Good morning, my dear," she answered back.

The dark haired prince winced as he tried to move. "How long - ?"

"A full day, though Rowen thought you'd sleep longer." She frowned as he continued to try to sit up and gently laid her hands against his shoulders. "Rest. Do you remember what happened?"

Loki closed his eyes again, his mother's hand moving to hold his. She was the only one he'd allow to fuss. Thor, at times, would get away with it, but Frigga never had to worry about a cross word from him on it. "I... Oh damn," he muttered, feeling the pain creep in. "I hate that bloody Destroyer."

"Your brother feels similarly," Frigga smiled.

A smirk quirked the trickster's lips. "He needn't be such a child about it. He set worse on me when we were younger."

She shook her head with an amused look in her eye. "He's only just stepped out for a few minutes to fetch some food."

"Have they found Gisla?"

A frown tugged at his mother's lips and she glanced toward the door, as if she expected it to burst open with some terrible monster on the other side of it. "No."

"She'd been using a cloaking spell of some kind," Loki murmured. "That's how she was moving through the palace undetected by either Father or Heimdall."

"When you're well enough, your father wishes to speak with you on what happened down in the vaults."

The second prince cringed at the thought. "It was not a well laid plan," he admitted softly. "It's not often that I'm caught in a corner such as that."

"She took what she was after," Frigga murmured. "The Casket of Winters is nowhere to be found."

"Ah," Loki breathed, perking a bit at this news and receiving a very strange look for the action. "She doesn't have it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I said it was a poorly laid out plan, I didn't say that it was not laid out at all," the trickster said with a smile. He lifted his hands and from the air he pulled the box, glowing blue and cold. He didn't let his fingers touch it as it hovered in the air between them, but even the proximity had tinged the very tips of his fingers blue.

Frigga let out a small huff of a laugh. "My clever one," she murmured affectionately, a name she had used for him when he was small. "This does change things."

"They can't stage a full attack without it," Loki agreed, putting it back into the invisible pocket that he'd pulled it from.

"Without what?" Thor asked from the door, his arms full of food from the kitchens. He was beaming at them, obviously thrilled to see his younger brother awake. "Hungry?"

"Not really," the younger prince replied with his nose slightly turned. He hadn't eaten since the few bites that he'd had at breakfast - was that two days ago now? - but whatever it was that Thor had stolen away from the soon to be furious kitchen lady did _not_ look appetizing.

The thunderer shrugged and took a seat on the bed, remembering only after he saw the way his brother cringe and tense to be more gentle. "Sorry," he murmured, easing so his back was against the headboard and passed a small plate of food to their mother. He looked down at his brother, finding green eyes watching him just as intently. The smile had faded from the crown prince's face and he now simply stared, his own plate of food he set carefully in his lap. "You lied to me."

Loki couldn't help the small smile that perked his lips. "One would think you were used to it by now, brother, but to what are you referring?"

"You said you'd come to me when you knew what was happening, but instead you disappear without a word. You went at it on your own."

"I had meant to find proof to back up what Heimdall had seen."

"And you found it on Midgard? Those photographs..."

"Your friend Agent Coulson was surprisingly helpful in it. Gisla and her trail of monsters found me when I returned." He paused, realizing that his brother was still glaring. "Thor, are you truly cross with me? I was on my way when-"

"Leifr has placed the accusation that you have set this up. He's saying that you've had your hands in it the entire time and that the reason that you've helped set up the peace talks was to bring him here, just as you did Laufey."

"That's absurd," Loki managed, a determined look on his face as he pulled himself into the sitting position.

Thor shot him a withering look.

"You don't believe him, do you, brother?" the younger prince asked at last. "I have done many things, but this... I wouldn't risk destroying what I've been fighting so hard to get back." His brother said nothing and Loki could feel the rising panic. "I would not betray you in this way. I-"

"Peace," Thor said at last, a strained smile touching his lips and he reached a hand out to wrap around the back of the smaller god's neck. "I know."

The panic dissipated as quickly as it had come on and Loki thought he might topple over. Perhaps he did need more time to heal.

"We know it," Frigga offered in a soft voice, "and Odin knows it. I believe our allies know it as well, but we are in a delicate situation now, if it hasn't been from the beginning." Neither of her boys missed the glint in her eyes. "Though, I do believe that we have more than we though not an hour ago. Thor, fetch your father and those you trust the most."

"What do we have, Mother?" the blond prince asked, tilting his head to the side in question.

"Your clever brother has what the Frost Giants seek."

Loki's lips stretched widely in a smile. "And if their entire plan hinges on having it..."

Realization seemed to strike Thor suddenly. "_You_ have the Casket of Winters!"

"Leifr thinks Gisla has it and Gisla could not possibly know where it's gone to for certain. This is our chance to find out exactly how honest our guests have been with us."

* * *

TBC

A/N: I love Frigga, I really, really do. She doesn't have a huge role in the first Thor movie (I'm worried about what her role is in the second...), but there are some fantastic panels in the two-shot comic that takes place between the movies where she uses her own magic to reach out and find him... just before he steps through the portal to attack Earth. He says something to the extent of "Now just isn't a good time, Mother," and steps through, but the absolute _ache_ you can feel from her... It's beautiful. (And that sounds really twisted...) Anyway, yeah. All that to say that I'm a big fan of Frigga.


	11. Part Eleven

A/N: It's taken me forever to piece this together. I cannot begin to describe how many times I started it, erased it, rewrote it, walked away from it, erased a piece, reworked the next and so on and so forth. I'm just hoping it's not complete and total rubbish. *sigh* I feel... okay about it... Not perfect, but much better than I did while beginning it. I do want to share something with you, if FF . net will allow with their super crazy lack of link rule. For those of you that don't follow my Tumblr, you might not have seen this, but I feel you will still appreciate it (obviously no spaces in the actual link): takadasaiko . tumblr post / 56430367874 / k009 - the - 3 - important - bs

* * *

**Part Eleven.**

The fact that they had the Casket of Winters did not answer all the problems at hand. Loki had sat silently as the topic of how to handle their situation was tossed about his healing chamber like a ball. One person would offer up an idea, another would knock it down. This went on for what seemed like hours and after a time the injured prince wanted nothing more than to curl up under his sheets and sleep. Perhaps Master Rowen had been right afterall.

"Loki could shapeshift into Leifr, couldn't he?" Lyall asked, eyes focused on the dark haired trickster. "Couldn't you? To lure Gisla out?"

The prince in question offered a tired smile. "That takes an exorbitant amount of magic and one must be in the top condition to pull it off without doing further injury."

"We can't hold him forever like this," Thor groused. "Surely there is -"

"We could use Leifr to lure Gisla out." All eyes turned to the trickster and Loki realized he'd spoken the words out loud. Well, on with it, he supposed. "We're looking for a way to bring everything into the open, aren't we? If Leifr sides with his mother to gain the Casket, shouldn't that be proof enough?"

"Are you suggesting we hand the Casket over the Leifr?" Sif demanded.

"Absolutely not. I've not gone mad, you know. My magic is rebuilt enough that I can shroud several of us in the shadows. Leifr approaches his mother, tells her that he knows that we have have the Casket-"

"She'll know he does not have it," Odin pointed out lowly.

"I'll have it. I'll be close enough that she won't be able to tell the difference," Loki answered, his expression screaming that he was just as uncomfortable with the idea as the others seemed. "Limited time leaves us limited options."

"You'll put yourself out there to be the target," Thor argued.

"I don't plan to be seen."

"Because we know plans always go perfectly. Your magic may be stronger, but your body is not," Sif said as she leaned back against a table. "That will leave us protecting you and a good chance that we'd lose the Casket to the very creatures it should be kept from."

"I don't believe it will matter," Odin said, gaze shifting to the door.

Half a moment later there was a knock and Rowen opened it slowly. "My king," he directed at Odin. "News has reached the healing halls from your guards. King Leifr of the Frost Giants is nowhere to be found."

The room was silent for several long moments before Frigga spoke. "It seems we have our answer."

"That is not all, Allfather. They say that the Jotuns have sealed off parts of the palace with sheets of ice as if they mean to close us in."

Odin looked to his eldest. "Thor, I put Sif and the Warriors Three at your command. Find him."

"I'd like to be of some help," Lyall offered.

The king of Asgard nodded his agreement and turned his eye back to Loki who had begun to shift to stand. "No. You will remain here."

"I'm useless here."

"You're injuries will make you little good out there."

Loki began to argue, but the way that his legs nearly gave way as soon as he tried to stand made his father's point for him. "Very well," he relented softly.

"A moment?" Thor asked as the others nodded, leaving the room behind the two kings. He turned to his younger brother who was leaning heavily against the bed. Without warning he moved forward and put one large hand to the side of his face. "Give me your word you will not leave this room."

"Thor, I-"

"Your word, brother, or I'll have Rowen concoct something that will put you out for a week."

Irritation flashed through green eyes, but then he reached up and wrapped long fingers around Thor's wrist. "You have my word."

"Good."

"If."

"If?"

"I... can't help to shake this feeling that Leifr has something more devious in mind, something deeper and closer to home."

"I shall post guards at the door."

"It's not me I'm worried about, Thor."

The god of thunder's lips stretched into a smile and he leaned down to kiss the younger prince's brow. "Worry not, little brother. We've lived through worse."

He said it, and Loki knew he meant it even as he turned to leave, but the god of mischief couldn't bring himself to believe it.

* * *

Thor had not been prepared as they moved to the outer halls. It was as if the very few guards that Leifr had left had multiplied, their ice filling the normally warm halls of the home he'd grown up in. Whatever magic Gisla and her son possessed, even they wouldn't have been able to bring this many over without Heimdall's notice, and the fact that the Gatekeeper had not been heard from was enough to cause worry for him.

"It's a safe bet that they know Gisla doesn't have the Casket," Sif said as their paths crossed, her spear clashing with with a sword made of ice just as the words left her lips.

Thor frowned and dodged a blow near him. "I have not seen Leifr or his mother," he answered her at last.

"Nor have I, but they won't leave Asgard without the Casket of Winters." They met back to back, surrounded on all sides. "You realize this is a distraction, don't you?"

"The thought had crossed my mind." They split, Sif wielding her double ended spear and Thor Mjolnir. It looked as if the Giants had infiltrated the palace in fair numbers, but they were cutting off exits in a way that isolated those they were fighting from Asgardian guards and soldiers that might come to their aid.

"Leifr has been one step around us the entire time he's been here," Sif murmured lowly as they came back together, leaving a wake of destruction in their path. For a moment they had won and she turned dark eyes towards him. "It won't be a far stretch for him to realize where it is being held."

"And where is that?"

They turned, not realizing that anyone else had entered the halls. Gisla stood at the end and in the way of the next path that they would take. Thor clutched his hammer in his hand, fury building and even within the halls of the palace thunder could be heard from outside. They had trapped him indoors in hopes of countering his own skill, but he was not one to be underestimated for long. "I will give you one chance to call this off, Gisla. You and your son have-"

"Have what, little prince? We've come to your home? Brought war and destruction onto your doorstep? Perhaps it offends you that it was done in the shadows rather than in the light?" Her red eyes flashed dangerously. "After Lifa's death the Jotuns realized it was time for a change in our approach or we would always kneel to Odin Allfather. I've known it for some time yet, but our culture is not one to listen to the widowed queen. They claimed that Leifr and I had not _proved_ ourselves. Here is their proof. Many long years in the making is their proof, but it cannot be stopped now, and when we are done, Jotunheim will rule the Nine Realms."

"You have nothing without the Casket," Thor countered. "You know you cannot defeat us, even with the army you've brought here today. It is a matter of time, Gisla. Are you willing to sacrifice everything for a foolish grasp for power?"

Her lips stretched in a shadow of a smile. "Do you think me so ill prepared? I raised Leifr for this moment. He will not fail me in this as his father did. He was willing to learn what it takes to step away from what has hindered us in the past. Jotuns have great potential for magic, but we have a long history of limiting ourselves. Not my boy. His talents are unmatched."

"_Thor_," Sif hissed in warning, but it was not necessary. It was as Gisla had said it outright. They did know who held the Casket of Winters and they had been ready for it. Everything had been planned out, laid out, and ready. It was strange, as the crowned prince had always known his brother to lay out the pieces of the game. He was meticulous in it, careful to manipulate each being into their correct place if they knew it or not, but it seemed as if perhaps he had met his match.

"You will move from my path, Gisla, or I will move you myself," Thor growled.

"Worried for the little bastard, are we?" the Jotun queen purred with false sweetness.

"Go, Thor, I'll deal with her."

Thor glanced to Sif who stood grasping her weapon and ready to wield it with deadly precision. He wavered a moment, but one more look sent him off, a breath of thanks whispered as the lady warrior took on the dethroned queen of Jotunheim.

* * *

"Sit down," Frigga said again without turning to look at her younger son. Her eyes were fixated on the frozen ground below. Soldiers and guards were attempting to break through the walls of ice with little success.

"I cannot simply sit here while the others are-"

"You promised your brother."

The fact that Thor knew he lied and lied often when it met his purpose seemed to make his vow to his elder brother weigh heavier somehow and Loki retook his seat on the bed with a huff. He ached, but his magic was covering the majority of the pain. It wasn't like it had anywhere else to go. "What do you see?"

"They still haven't broken through," she answered softly, putting one hand against the glass. It was chilled from the ice crawling up the walls below.

Shouting from down the hall caught both mother and son's attention and Frigga motioned for Loki to stay where he was as she stepped towards the door. She pulled back when the ice began to creep through the door and it shattered open, Leifr filling the doorway. He moved forward, knocking Frigga to the side and she slammed hard into the small table by the window.

Loki was on his feet, the staff that he'd become so fond of using in battle appearing between his fingertips, but the Jotun king caught him midstride, counting on his stiffer movements. He slammed the dark haired prince up against the wall so that his feet were dangling, one hand pressed up against his chest to hold him there. "Clever trickster," Leifr growled out, no hint of the amused tone that he had spoken to the younger prince of Asgard in since his arrival. "I believe you have something that is rightfully mine."

"You could have made peace with us and returned home alive," Loki choked from his place, struggling to free himself. He simply didn't have enough of his strength back.

"Why would we want peace with the Aesir? Come now, the game is over so let's not play at it anymore. You've known from the beginning what our goal was."

"I had suspicions."

"And the Allfather sent you to Jotunheim to track them down. We knew you were there. Why do you think we came early? I couldn't have you skulking about our home, finding one lone guard that would tell all if threatened in just the right way. If there's one thing my life has taught me it is to be adaptable to the changing times." He leaned in, feeling the prince squirm in pain as he held him against the unyielding wall and he spoke in a low and dangerous tone. "Did you think you could outwit me, _little brother_? Did you think that your twists and turns and all your spells could save _any_ of you? Mother made sure I was well versed in every style of magic known to the Nine Realms, in everything that she had seen hinder us in the past. You have nothing over me, runt."

Loki gasped and struggled, hands wrapped helplessly around the much larger arm that held him where he was. He wouldn't let him see the fear, though, only the determination.

"I'd say that I'd kill Odin to return the pains you did to me, but I hardly think it would be the same. Perhaps your mother? You do seem to be close."

"_No_!" Loki managed.

"No? Then your idiot brother perhaps? I'll let you choose which one I kill first, and while you watch, you can decide if it's worth clinging to that damn box to see the other die as well. I suppose you'll be failing the Allfather either way. It does look like Father had the right idea to leave you to die all those years ago."

"Leifr!"

The Jotun turned, red eyes narrowed and a sharp and cunning smile stretched across his face when he saw Asgard's crowned prince standing the doorway, Mjolnir ready for whatever battle came his way. "Looks like he made the decision for me."

A chuckle escaped Loki, bringing Leifr's attention back to him. "You really don't understand, do you?"

The king snorted, slamming the trickster back so that his whole body fell limply to the ground when he was released. Loki looked up, a pained smile stretching across his thin lips and his green eyes defiant even as Leifr turned to stalk towards his elder brother. His voice, though quiet, was full of conviction. "My brother does not lose."

* * *

TBC

A/N: Two things -

One. I have this theory that Loki, no matter how angry, no matter how bitter he may become, he still believe Thor to be invincible. I don't think he can fathom the thought of having a life without Thor, even if they're clashing. Gabrielle Day and I actually touched on it ages ago in 'Drown the Echoes' when Loki says 'I never meant to be rid of you' or something along those lines. It came from the idea that in the first Thor movie he never went for the kill with Thor. He had Gungnir, he'd already fried Laufey with it, but he chose just to swipe at Thor. Even with the Destroyer I'm not sure he really thought he'd finish him... Just a thought. Anyone agree or disagree?

Two. I'm totally fangirling right now. John Barrowman is going to be at FanDays in Dallas in October. THE Captain Jack Harkness. Excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor... maybe in a few hours.


	12. Part Twelve

A/N: I know it's super short, but it's action-packed. So there.

* * *

**Part Twelve.**

The room exploded in battle before Thor could get any warning out to stand down, give up, or anything he might have tried to demand. Frigga had come around, but neither she nor Loki could do anything to help the blond prince battle the Frost Giant king.

Leifr seemed to almost enjoy himself as he dodged Mjolnir and gave only glancing blows in return. "And I've heard such great things about the strength of Odin's eldest. I feel as disappointed by that as I do the wit of his youngest." He was goading the blond prince, that much was obvious, but as he stepped back and reached out his hand, ice flowing from his fingers to create a sharp-edged staff, his eyes narrowed and he seemed to lose the amusement once more.

"Your time is short, Leifr," Thor warned and Mjolnir crashed down against the staff.

It was surprisingly solid, even pit against the thunderer's hammer and the Giant pushed back, sliding Thor towards the door. "Yours is shorter." He slammed hard into him, knocking the Asgardian from his feet.

Thor rolled, dodging the blade that buried itself in the floor where he had just been. He was on his feet in an instant, but Leifr was moving again, faster than any other Jotun that the prince had fought. They were not as dull of creatures as Asgardians would have portrayed them to be, but they were much larger, making their movements slower and more cumbersome. Leifr, though still large and towering, seemed to have found ways to counter and moved nearly as quickly as Thor, missing him by mere inches at times.

The space between them was not conducive to throwing Mjolnir and each step seemed to come dangerously close to further injuring those Thor had rushed in to protect. He glanced behind him, noting that the main healing hall just outside seemed to be void of all its usual occupants, but had no chance to make a move towards it on his own when he just barely blocked the next blow, aimed straight for his chest. The blade of Leifr's staff caught under Mjolnir's handle, lifting the thunder god fully off his feet and throwing him into the open room and hard to the stone floor.

Loki gave a startled sound at the turn, stumbling to his feet. He felt Frigga's hand on his arm and realized he'd never heard her move.

"Have faith in your brother as he has faith in you," she murmured.

The trickster looked ready to argue, but pursed his lips together tightly as he watched the battle just outside the door, moving only when Thor was out of sight.

The crowned prince had put distance between himself and the Jotun king again, looking as if they had clashed roughly while out of Loki's line of view. Thor readied himself, eyes narrowed in a way that his brother knew what to expect next. A smile perked the god of mischief's lips even as Mjolnir left the thunder god's fingers, flying through the air with such speed that Leifr had no time to pull fully out of its way. It slammed into the Giant's shoulder, the sound resonating through the whole room and outward as he crashed to the ground.

Thor grinned broadly and recalled his weapon. "And you were worried, brother!" he laughed as he approached Leifr's barely moving form.

Loki offered a small smile from his place in the doorway, though he could not help but feel the tug of worry that had ached upon brother's departure into the battle before. He watched the elder prince move as only Thor: could with full confidence in his actions.

"You have been defeated, Leifr Laufeyson. As prince of Asgard and heir to Odin's kingdom, I will hear your surrender now."

"Arrogance," Leifr growled lowly, pain sounding in each syllable. He used his good arm to push himself to his knees, left arm hanging uselessly at his side, and turned angry red eyes towards the prince.

"Truth," Thor corrected. "You have been downed, king of Jotunheim and your greatest ally has certainly been detained or she would have been here by now. You have lost. Accept this with grace and Asgard will be merciful."

"_Mercy_," Leifr spat and he vanished. It took only a split second for Thor to realize what he'd done, having seen his own brother pull the same stunt many times, but it was too long. The blade of the Jotun's staff buried itself deeply in his back and blue eyes widened in pain. The Frost Giant leaned in, twisting as he did and Mjolnir fell from Thor's fingers. "Mercy is for the weak."

"Thor!" Loki cried from his place, his hold on the doorframe the only thing keeping him on his feet. Green eyes met blue for the barest of moments before Leifr flung the crowned prince, slamming him down hard and wrenched the blade from his back. A kick connected solidly with the blond's ribs, rolling him and the Jotun's boot came to rest on Thor's neck. Blood pooled beneath the Asgardian and his eyes glazed over until they finally slipped closed.

Loki watched in horror as Leifr turned on him, rage fuling him. The Giant picked him up by the front of his tunic, voice no longer holding any kindness, but sounded much more in tone with the usual gravely sound that other Jotuns spoke with. "The Casket, runt, or I'll kill her too."

"Do you really think me fool enough to believe you'd leave any of us alive with it?" Loki snapped.

"Such a cold hearted son," Leifr growled and tossed him, starting towards Frigga. "He's willing to watch you die."

"Do you think me so frail that I cannot defend myself?" she asked, her voice giving no indication of fear.

Loki pulled himself up from where he had landed and for the briefest moment he could see everything that would happen if he stalled any longer. Thor would bleed out on the floors of the healing chambers, their mother would be cut down where she stood to make the invading king's point, and Leifr would at least have time to start in on him before anyone came. True, he did not believe that the Jotun could withstand more than a one-on-one battle at this point, and perhaps not even that, but even if he kept the Casket from him it would leave the trickster without the two people he held most dear.

"Stop," the dark haired prince managed, freezing Leifr in his tracks.

"Then you'll produce it?"

"Yes, just don't hurt her."

"You will hand it over, then? No tricks?"

"No tricks," Loki promised, feeling the weight of the decision even as he slowly forced himself to his feet.

"Let's see it then."

The god of mischief couldn't bare to meet his mother's eyes as he produced the treasure between his hands. For a long moment, one that seemed to stretch out into eternity, it was in the open, Loki's fingers barely touching it and Leifr's reaching, but as the Frost Giant moved closer, lust for power shining in his eyes, a cruel smile pulled at Loki's lips. "I lied," he offered and pulled at the lid of the Casket.

He'd forgotten the rush of power that it brought, but not so much that he hadn't been ready to brace himself against the wall. It kept him on his feet at least as the ancient ice magic was released and the Jotun king seemed to realize what was happening all at once. Not even he could stand against it as the ice curled around every inch of his body, freezing him in place until he seemed almost washed away, blue skin hidden behind blue ice with only his red eyes standing out against it from the inside.

With great effort Loki snapped the lid closed again, eyes watching as the blue faded from his skin from the closeness of the Jotun treasure. Slowly he looked over to his mother who was watching him carefully, unable to stop the small smile that pulled at her lips even then, as if she'd never doubted him for a moment.

A great noise erupted in the hall outside and friendly faces appeared in the door. It seemed to blur together as Loki felt the Casket slip from his fingers, crashing to the floor in his daze. He thought he heard Lyall call his name, shouting back that he and his mother were in the room. He blinked, realizing that everything was pulsing in and out and Thor's name tumbled from his lips.

"Easy," a voice nearer to him said and he felt a hand on his arm to steady him.

Green eyes blinked rapidly, trying to clear and his knees nearly gave way. He leaned back, allowing himself to slide down against the wall as the other option seemed far too painful. The person at his side knelt with him, but he couldn't quite force his eyes to focus. "Thor is injured," he said, his voice rough and his tongue thick in his mouth.

"Your father and Master Rowen are with him."

Sif. It was Sif's voice, Loki realized as she finally came into focus. "Is he...?"

"He's alive." She offered him a strained smile and gave him a small shove, though careful not to jostle him too badly. "Do you have so little faith in your brother's abilities?"

"Why does everyone assume I have no faith in Thor?" the younger prince groused, but the smallest of smiles tugged tiredly at his lips. Of course Thor was alive. His brother did not lose.

* * *

TBC

A/N: So am I the only one that hasn't heard that Amazon has begun to sell fanfiction after the whole Fifty Shades of Grey debacle? (I've ranted about this before... Do **not** get me started). I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. Part of me loves the idea, but... hmm... What would that do to sites like this? I don't know. Gabrielle Day just brought it to my attention, so I've just begun to look into it. From what I can tell, nothing that they're allowing submissions for are any fandoms that I partake in, but hey... could you imagine if they opened up Marvel?


	13. Part Thirteen

A/N: So, I'm a pretty big Marvel fan. I started out when I was little as a Wolverine fan, then moved to being a huge Gambit/Rogue fan (still am), and finally nosed my way into the Avengers when the first Iron Man movie came out and I loved it. I've never been particularly pro or against Spiderman. I saw the movies that came out about 10 years ago, but I don't think I saw the third of the series. I still haven't seen the reboot. (By the way, when did we start rebooting things less than 10 years after the final movie was released?!) I did, of course, watch the animated series when I was younger. Anyway (there's a point to this), I was browsing Tumblr the other day and came across this fantastic Gif set of an animated Phil Coulson (what?!) and Thor talking. Thor says: "You are a son of Coul. I thought you could handle it" to which Coulson walks over to his computer, saying "I'm a SHIELD agent and a principal of a New York public high school." He then taps in a code, all the diplomas/awards on his wall open up to reveal a bloody armory and he says "of course I can handle it." I squealed like a rabid fangirl for about ten minutes, reblogged, put it on facebook, and then tracked down the show it was from. It's from a show called Ultimate Spider-Man. Animated Coulson. Consistent visits from the Avengers. Stan Lee as the janitor. I'm just not sure how this could get any better. Oh Phil... (It will at least keep me until Agents of SHIELD comes out this fall...)

* * *

**Part Thirteen.**

He could hear voices, but they were muffled by sleep. As he neared the surface into wakefulness he strained to listen. Slowly, just as he felt he might be breaking through the top most layer, he realized that it was only one voice he heard and he wasn't sure if there had been more. The words blurred together and he knew that it wouldn't be clear until he forced his eyes to open.

With great difficulty, a pair of green eyes opened. Loki blinked against the lit room, wincing at the dulled pain that was just over the edge of his next level of consciousness. Finally his gaze came to rest on the source of the noise that had woken him. There was a broad back facing him, the owner looking to have walked someone to the door of the room. Even in his haze the younger prince of Asgard knew the figure well with his embroidered clothing and braided white hair. Loki had never seen it when it held its natural hue and he wondered if it had been blond as Thor's, or if, perhaps, dark as his. The Allfather had been the one that cast the spell on him to hide his Jotun appearance, after all.

Odin turned, almost as if he sensed he was being watched, and his expression spoke of the exhaustion he felt. Even so the corner of lips perked upward. "At least one of you finally woke," he said gruffly. "How do you feel?"

Loki was silent for a long moment until his mind finally clicked in that his adopted father had been speaking to him. He winced, the air that was pushed through his throat to form the words scratching and clawing at the inside. He'd been asleep for days, it would seem. "A bit... muddled."

"Master Rowen said you might," Odin answered with a nod. "You woke yesterday for a few moments, do you remember?"

The trickster closed his eyes and shifted through memories. He found them jumbled as if someone had broken a mirror and scattered the glass around the room. "No," he said at last.

"Best not," the king of Asgard replied. "You woke screaming and would not be quieted until Rowen forced you to drink a potion to put you back to sleep. I thought that, perhaps this time, we would head off any issue by putting you and your brother in the same chamber to begin with." He gave a snort of a laugh as he spoke, Loki glancing to where he had motioned to Thor's sleeping form in the bed next to his. "Even as children, neither of you would be quieted when one was worried for the other. I do wish you would remember those moments when you bicker."

Loki couldn't help but smile at this, seeing his brother just a few feet away and sleeping soundly. Bruises were fading along the thunderer's face and he lay partially on his side, bandages visible from beneath the sheets. The younger prince remembered, now that he saw them, what had happened and a sense of dread pulled at him. No, he reminded himself, Thor was there. He was breathing and he was alive. Thor did not lose. "Is he...?"

"He has not woken yet, but that is mostly Rowen's doing. He said that the two of you needed rest." Odin stood there for a moment, looking very much as if he were weighing his options. His single blue eye was focused, but Loki could tell it was not on anything that could be seen. Finally, the gaze swiveled to him and the Allfather sighed. "I'm proud of you, son." If he had meant to say more he did not, and only held Loki's gaze for a few moments longer before turning to leave. "Your brother should wake soon. In the next few days I will need to make public my judgement on Leifr and Gisla. I should have you both there."

"They're alive then?"

"They are."

"We'll be there, Father."

Odin nodded and said no more as he left the room.

"He doesn't always know what to say."

Loki's eyes darted to the other bed where he found a pair of blue ones staring back, a smile on Thor's lips. He looked very proud of himself that he had feigned sleep so convincingly.

"You're awake," the trickster breathed, feeling a weight he did not realize had settled being lifted.

Thor continued to grin, reaching out across the stretch between the beds. Loki met him halfway, thin fingers touching his in the middle as if to prove to one another that there were no illusions at work, no dreams to be woken from. They were there and they were alive at least one more time. As long as they could always have the one more time, it was worth all the pains in all the Nine Realms.

"I'm awake," the thunderer murmured and squeezed the hand in his. His gaze grew serious and he shifted, wincing slightly as the wound pulled. Healing stones could only go so far and the enchantment in Lefir's blade had cut deeper than the ice. He watched his younger brother, unable to form the words that floated through his mind. He could not claim to be their master as Loki did, but he knew there was something to say. He could _feel_ it, he just couldn't quite put it into the open and make it sound as he wished.

"Don't hurt yourself," the younger prince teased.

"I just..." Thor closed his eyes, trying to gather himself. This was Loki. This was his brother. He needed to find a way. "I just want to make sure, after everything, after all that's happened and all that's been said..."

"You're afraid it's affected me?" Loki murmured.

"Yes."

A thin smile stretched the trickster's lips. His brother had always been so brazen, so ready to rush at anything that he often forgot the deeper feelings of others. If it weren't on the surface, as Thor wore all of his emotions, it might be overlooked by the thunder god. He'd seen a change in him, though, in more recent years, a yearning to overcome the flaw and it meant more to the younger prince than the elder would ever know. It certainly earned him the right to hear the truth.

"It has," Loki said slowly, careful to explain as he spoke. "There are questions and doubts that may never fully be put away, and when I am forced to look directly at everything I might have been..."

"What do you mean?"

"Leifr."

"You're nothing like him."

Loki snorted good naturedly. "He and I are more alike than I'd care to admit. If I'd been left to Jotunheim, or if... Even if you had not fought so hard to make me believe myself more than what my exile had made me..." He stopped, closing his eyes briefly. "Forgive me, brother. I fear my mind is not yet clear." He took a deep breath and opened them again, meeting Thor's gaze directly. "If things had been different, even in the slightest, I might have fallen to the same path. It is difficult to see that, to acknowledge that, but it is also good. It means I've seen how far we've come."

Thor threw back the covers of his bed and was across the small space before Loki could protest, gathering his brother into his arms in a careful hug. The younger prince did not protest, even as the pressure around his body increased, but leaned into it. "You are nothing like Leifr," his elder brother said with conviction. "You are Loki, son of Odin and brother of Thor. What could have been or what might have been is not was is. You are you."

Loki chuckled and wrapped an arm around his brother's neck, returning the embrace fully. "Thank you, brother," he murmured softly.

* * *

Two days later Rowen had reluctantly given Odin the clear that his sons were well enough to stand with him as he brought forth his justice upon the heads of the Jotun king and his disgraced mother. Leifr had managed to thaw himself from the Casket's magic, but it had taken days to do so, and he stood unsteadily on the Rainbow Bridge, left arm completely useless at his side and eyes blazing with rage. He could do nothing with the many guards that surrounded him and the magic suppressing chains around his wrists.

He sneered as Odin approached with Thor and Loki on either side. "Shall it be a public execution then, on the bridge? Perhaps you mean to throw us into the abyss to see if we might weather it as you did your youngest?"

Odin stood tall and gave only the barest of nods. Thor stepped forward. "Death is too kind for you," he said, his voice holding little emotion though his eyes showed the determination to keep it that way. "Even so, after all of this, Asgard wishes for peace."

Loki stepped next to his brother. "Our father's judgement stands that you will both return to Jotunheim." A smile stretched across his face, green eyes narrowing. "You came here with a purpose and a plan, one that you failed in. You will return to your home in disgrace."

"_Cowards_!" Gisla hissed. "You know what they will do to us. Do it yourself and be done with it!"

"Asgard wishes for peace," Odin echoed his son's words. "The deal has been struck and you will be returned."

"It seems you were not what they needed after all."

Leifr's eyes turned on Loki. "You orchestrated this."

The smile did not fade. "While the thought of taking your heads off was appealing, there is always the greater good for our home. Perhaps if you had simply surrendered to Thor when he asked it of you then you may have been spared."

Odin motioned behind to where Heimdall stood, wounds bandaged from the battle he had fought in the encounter. His face was grim as he nodded his understanding, moving to allow the guards to shuffle their prisoners into the Observatory. Their cries of rage echoed even as the Bifrost pulled them away to their own destruction that awaited them upon their return to Jotunheim and the bridge was left in silence.

"What if they do not put him to death?" Thor asked after a stretch.

"Their culture dictates that only the strong will rule," Odin said. "If they do not kill him, he and Gisla will be left to die in the cold wastes of Jotunheim. The will be given no shelter and no provisions. The elements will kill them if their people do not."

"And Asgard avoids war for a time longer," Loki added quietly.

"I think we could do with some peace," the thunderer agreed, flinging his arm around his younger brother's shoulders. "What say you, Loki? Perhaps a hunt or a quest to get our minds off of the darker happenings of-"

Loki rolled his eyes and shrugged the elder prince off. "I do believe we need to discuss what _peaceful times_ mean."

"Peaceful is not the same as boring, brother!"

"I'd very much like to heal before you drag us into something new!"

Odin held back, watching his sons bicker as they moved down the Rainbow Bridge. Though their voices grew louder, the younger prince seeming to grow more exasperated and the elder more amused at the reaction, there was something strangely calming about it. The threat was, for the time being, gone and their lives continued on in the way that they were meant to.

"Don't forget this."

Odin turned to see Frigga, standing as if she had been waiting for them. She motioned towards their boys at the questioning look he gave. "When they try your patience or when you think one might have wandered too far... Don't forget the love that I know you hold for them both."

The Allfather offered her a smile and pulled her into his arms. "They are trying," he agreed.

She popped her hand against his armor for his efforts. "You know what I mean. Thor may not always love who you think he should love and Loki may not always approach the problem as you think he should approach it, but they are our sons, for better or worse." She paused, watching his expression melt into a rare and affectionate one. "Seeing everything that has happened, if you could take it back, would you?"

He knew what she meant. It was an age-old question by now and it brought to memory a crying child left abandoned in a distant world. "Not for all the Nine," Odin assured her and kissed her head. "They are our sons."

* * *

A/N: While this is the end... I've got an idea for a one or two part bit (think of it like one of those lovely after credit moments Marvel gives to us!) to wrap something up and potentially lead into an idea that's clawing at me. I feel like the idea for the next full-length story is not concrete enough to start, but soon I hope. Anyway, there will be a chapter or two after this to lead into it. Hopefully I'll get that up tomorrow or Monday, so we're not _quite_ done with updates =)


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